Sonic Powers
by AvengerPinkKunoichi
Summary: (This story follows the one-shot prologue.) It's almost New Year's in Sonic's world! The Year of the Powers has come, and a worthy chosen has been selected, but with this great form of power on the heroes' side, can Sonic defend the Chosen One from the remains of Eggman's forces? (NEW YEAR SPECIAL!) ON HIATUS!
1. Year Of The Powers

Glorious and sparkly fireworks conquered the night skies of the casino district of Station Square, where people of all ages, humans and anthros enjoyed the city's luxury and colors. It was nine days before the celebration of the new year in the world, festivities, music and happiness were the main theme of such atmosphere.

A lady was helped out of a car by a gentlemen, who took her hand. The couple, dressed in shiny, elegant attire, strolled towards the large casino, stepping over a fancy red carpet.

Aside the people who had a good time, in this city lived a humble girl with a special heart.

Ultimately, it was the Year of the Powers, and according to legend, it was a year when the Sun's potential is increased, and the mantle of an ancient power was passed to the heart of a worthy chosen, someone strong yet gentle, heroic and selfless, graceful and determined.

On that very night, the celebration was dedicated to that special girl, who had been chosen by the Powers about five months ago.

A parade was created to honour the girl and her counterpart, a black jackal and her forever guardian. On the front, the girl, who had short hair and brown eyes, waved excitedly at the cheering crowd, while the jackal just crossed his arms, not truly enjoying the party.

"Infinite..." The girl, Jennifer Jane, or J.J., sang, calling. "...why aren't you smiling?"

"Smiling's not my deal, J.J." The somewhat annoyed jackal replied. "In fact, I don't know why you forced me to go out."

"This is our night, Infy." J.J. smiled, still waving. "Don't you feel a little magic in the air? 'Cuz I think this is awesome!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." The jackal cared less about their party, but once his large ears perked up, he sensed something was wrong.

He eyed the cheering crowd in search for someone suspicious, but found nobody. He then glanced at J.J, who continued greeting the people. Without a second thought, he jumped off the float and left the parade.

"Hey, Infinite, I have a better idea! How about we-" When she turned to the side he used to stand on, she saw he was gone. "Infinite?" She looked around. "Hey, Infy, where are you?!"

The Sun Medallion in her collar started to burn. Something definitely wasn't right, so she stopped waving and looked around for any signs of trouble. She could tell by her racing heartbeat that the people wasn't safe there either. And right on that moment, a large missile hit a building, and tension grew among the crowd.

More explosions hit the buildings of the district, the screaming of people ran wild, and everyone ran to safety as trucks and vans of the G.U.N. came to the crime scene.

Soldiers and agents geared up and left their vehicles, and aimed at the arriving ships in the sky. From those ships descended an entire army of robots, which surrounded the crowd and parade, but mostly, J.J.'s float.

The poor human lady was so scared and distressed, she didn't dared to move a finger.

 _"Greetings, Station Square casino district! It is I, Dr. Eggman, with an important announcement!"_ The villain's voice resonated through loud speakers coming from the ships. The frightened people squirmed and flinched, and so did J.J., who eyed the giant ships with overwhelming fear.

 _"The Year of the Powers has arrived, as you dear citizens may know. As a result, one of you was chosen to inherit this ancient form of energy. If this Chosen One is present tonight, don't hesitate to step forward. Disobey my orders, and consequences will be futile. Hohohohoho!"_

The people had no choice but to run, their screaming intensified. The G.U.N. soldiers cleared the area and formed a firing lane as the people fled.

"Oh no!" J.J. shivered in terror. Her life guardian was gone, and she was afraid to use the Powers, knowing that doing so would mean certain risks.

She jumped off the float and ran to the opposite direction the people was going, just to find her dearest friend.

...

Inside his main ship, the doctor observed as only the girl headed to a different direction.

"Hehehe... you won't get anywhere now, little chosen!"

...

Before she knew it, she was cornered by many of the robots that were there. She let out a shriek.

"HELP!"

In a blur of blue, the robots were smashed and crushed to bits. The world's fastest hedgehog landed heroically and noticed the scared girl. He greeted her in his kindest way.

"Oh, hi there! Sorry about the sudden arrival, but you're in trouble!" He scooped her bridal-style, much to her nervousness.

"Uh- wha-?" J.J. loooked down at herself, then up at the hedgehog, very nervous.

"Hold tight!" The hedgehog warned a split second before taking off at super high speed.

"Aah!"

...

"Fire at my command!" The Commander said as his soldiers' guns clicked.

The robot army slowly approached their adversaries, and readied their laser guns.

The Commander pointed forward. "FIRE!"

Soldiers and robots collided in a war of guns. Some soldiers were struck, most of the robots were destroyed.

Because of the robots' laser beams, Sonic was forced to evade them while keeping the girl as safe as he could. Indeed she was scared, so he embraced her harder to give her comfort as they escaped from the battlefield. He jumped, glided and dashed his way out.

Several missiles were fired towards their direction. Using his highest speed, Sonic ran up the glass walls of a building, a trail of blue following behind as he surpassed the speed of sound. J.J. shut her eyes and embraced him harder. Luckily, the missiles did not harmed any of them.

...

The doctor threw a fist to the side of his seat, angry at the failure of capturing the chosen and defeating the hedgehog. He saw that most of his robots were occupied fighting the forces of G.U.N., and the rest of his mechs were destroyed.

"Argh! Forget those puny humans! Surround them!" Eggman commanded.

...

The robots stopped firing and turned toward the hedgehog and human, and used thrusters to fly at speeds that matched his.

"Do not stand down! Keep your eyes on the targets!"

As Sonic made a landing, the robots quickly made their move, and surrounded him and J.J. There were hundreds of them, and each had their laser guns ready to fire.

 _"Hehehehe... I've got you now, you blue nuisance! Any last words before I eradicate you?"_

The whirring of the laser guns got loud enough it frightened J.J. They were about to get shot.

"Watch out!" Sonic took the girl's hand and braced himself.

Unexpectedly, a tough, golden force field surrounded the two, deflecting the shower of laser beams. The hedgehog uncovered his eyes and realized the girl next to him harnessed just a small portion of her power. When the shower stopped, the girl extended her hand and expanded the force field, destroying all the robots.

"Whoa! What the...?" Sonic's eyes widened.

...

The total annihilation of his robots got him infuriated, so much that his face nearly turned as red as his nose.

"You lousy little blue pest!" He nearly destroyed the mechs around him in anger.

...

Sonic let go of the girl's hand. J.J. looked down at him.

"I'm sorry! I had to-"

But her speech was broken as Eggman descended in his partially damaged Egg Mobile. Ever since the war between his empire and the Resistance ended, his mechs were reduced to a 95 percent, most of them being damaged or repaired.

"That's one good way to crack a party, egghead!" Sonic said, lowering his arms to his sides. "One question, though, how's it been since the Phantom Ruby's destruction?"

"Phantom Ruby?" J.J. repeated.

"That's none of your business, you meddling hedgehog!" Eggman clutched a fist. "You destroyed my greatest dreams! And now with the remains of my empire, I'll take my sweet revenge on you."

"Heh!" Sonic laughed. "You and what mustache, eggface? If me and my friends could beat you and that sorry-faced Infinite..." J.J. gasped at that, looking at the hedgehog with widened eyes. "...we can undoubtedly stop you from even greater schemes!"

"I would like to see you try." Eggman threatened.

All of a sudden, a dark matter floated in the sky, and flew past the hedgehog and human, hovered back up, then disappeared, leaving behind two very impressed looks. Sonic was about to make a move, but he also saw the ships Eggman owned, and himself, disappeared.

"What was that?!"

J.J. suddenly collapsed and fainted.

...

"Great, you're back!" Sonic said with a smile as the girl's eyes opened.

J.J. held her head, and realized both were sitting in a bunk in the street, far from the casino district. Sonic had eaten two succulent chili dogs, and was holding another in his hand. "Um... what time is it?" She groaned.

"Time to start a new day! That would've been a great party if it wasn't for Eggman." He chewed his chili dog.

"Oh. It's daytime already?" Sonic nodded. "I'm sorry if I sound weird, I'm a little disoriented right now. What happened last night?"

"Chaos, everywhere." He frowned, but his expression quickly lit up. "But don't worry, everyone's safe."

"Oh, thank goodness. At least everyone's..." J.J. then gasped, feeling panicked. "My friend! He left me! I have to find him!"

Sonic grasped her hand before she could run. He didn't had to move from his seat. "Whoa, whoa! Easy there! Before we find him, how about we get you something to eat?"

"You would do that for me?"

"Sure! I mean, if you don't mind."

J.J. grasped his hands with excitement and pulled him to his feet. "I would love to! Come on! I know of a place!"

...

The two stopped near a pizza shop, where they ate the biggest and most delicious pizza slices in town.

"Mhm! These Supreme Pepperoni Paradise slices are so good!" She said. "You see, Station Square's never had such deliciousness before."

"Wow. They really are good! But I suggest they make chili pizzas. I mean, it's not a bad idea, right?"

J.J. chuckled.

...

After the pizza, the two relaxed, taking a stroll around the city. Every detail made J.J. smile. This was her town for months, as she and her life guardian had been defending it prior to Sonic's arrival.

"I never thanked you for saving me, and my people last night. So, thanks."

"No problem. I'm always up to help the little guys."

"It's very selfless of you. I wonder why the Powers didn't chose you."

Sonic stopped and looked at J.J. with concern. "You're doubting yourself?"

"No! I mean... Oh, never mind." She shook the thought off and kept walking.

"By the way, you never told me your name." She said. "I must know the name of the hero who saved me last night."

"Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog. And you are?"

"Jennifer Jane, but you can call me J.J. Rabbit."

Sonic nodded, but raised an eyebrow. "Did... Did I hear well?"

J.J. looked around herself. "Oh! Hold on a sec!" She snapped a finger and was covered in smoke with a "poof!" When the smoke cleared, her human body was replaced with an anthro rabbit body. Sonic's eyes couldn't grow wider.

"Whoa! What in the-?!"

"I know, I had a worse impression of myself the first time." J.J. said, her voice sounded high-pitched than her normal voice. "This is something I can do with the Powers. I can switch forms!"

 _"Hey J.J., you still there?"_ A male voice called through J.J.'s commune.

She gasped with excitement, but held the emotion for a moment. "Excuse me." She walked away from Sonic and held her commune close.

"In, where have you been? I've been looking everywhere! Also, I told you not to use the communes unless it's _very_ important." J.J. whispered to her device.

Sonic raised an eyebrow. The name sounded familiar somehow.

 _"Being in contact with you is_ crucially _important. Why is it that you never answer any of my calls?!"_ The male voice said in an angry accent.

"Sorry." J.J. sighed. "Hey, since we're talking now, I've got a surprise for you." She smiled. "You're not gonna' believe who just came around to help."

 _"Heh. Surprise me then, kid. I'll be waiting for you at the top floor. Don't be late."_

"And surprise you I will. See you then!"

"I don't want to meddle, but, who's this In guy?" Sonic asked as he approached her.

J.J. turned to him. "A friend of mine. I saved him one day. The poor thing was so weak, so I helped him the best way I could, and took him in to the city. Now he's living with me. Can you believe we've been defending this city since the day we met? Not to mention, he saved me the day I first obtained the Powers."

"So, does he know about this?"

"Yup! Don't worry, you can trust him. I'm sure both of you will get along just fine. Follow me!"

 _At the rooftop..._

J.J. opened the door to the rooftop, and ran towards Infinite once her eyes spotted him.

"Hey, Infinite!"

Sonic stopped when he noticed the girl he saved was friends with the villain who nearly destroyed his world. "WHAT?!" His mouth dropped.

The black jackal turned to see J.J., who leaped to his arms and wrapped him in a warm hug. Infinite cringed at first, but gave in to the hug, rolling his eyes back. Sonic couldn't believe what his emerald green eyes saw.

"You're late. Where have you been?" Infinite asked seriously, withdrawing from the hug.

"Looking for help. Surprise!" She extended a hand to Sonic, introducing him to Infinite. The jackal didn't seem surprised whatsoever.

"You?!" Sonic nearly yelled.

"Isn't this great?!" An ecstatic J.J. exclaimed. "Sonic the Hedgehog and Infinite the Jackal, two powerful beings, working together!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait a second! You're friends with the guy who tortured me for six months?!" Sonic exclaimed.

"What? No! Infinite's my friend since the day I saved him. He's no bad guy."

"He's the TOTAL bad guy! He worked along with Eggman!"

Infinite looked aside. "Hmph. Like I'd remember anything like that."

"That's nonsense. He's been living with me for the past five months. I've fed him, helped him settle, kept him safe. He's got great skills, he's a good guy!"

Infinite came close to J.J. and held his hands on her shoulders. "You know, J.J., this just feels uncomfortable. Why don't we go home instead, and talk about this ourselves?"

"Yeah, you go and show this unmasked clown just how evil he was." Sonic retorted.

Infinite approached the cocky hedgehog in defense. "Hey! You have NO right to talk to me like that, and less in front of my friend! Don't you think she's been through much?!"

"Since when you of all people got so concerned? You're the baddest thing the world has ever had. How do I even know I can trust you?"

"Could you please STOP?!" J.J. stood between the two and spread her arms out like a referee. "I get it, you're rivals, frenemies, or... whatever! But right now the city's at stake because of my Powers! Seeing you two arguing gives me a great headache, so cut it off already, will you?!"

Infinite crossed his arms, turning his gaze away from the two.

"Fine. But I'll keep my eyes on you, Infinite. You touch a hair on her head, and you'll regret it."

Infinite stared back at Sonic. "Save your temperament for another occasion, hedgehog. Come on, J.J." He took J.J.'s hand and parted ways with her.

She, however, stared back at the hedgehog, confused at what just occurred.


	2. Data Gathering

**OOHHH MYYY GOOODD!**

 **To the Guest Reviewer: THANK YOU! It makes me happy that at least someone likes this new fanfic! Happy new year, btw!**

 **I hope the rest of you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

Sonic wandered around the lonely city at night, repeatedly thinking about what just occurred.

"Man, I can't believe she's friends with the guy who tortured me." He said.

He stopped to admire the moon in the beautiful night sky.

"Well, if there's something I like, is a nice view." He smiled. "This city hasn't changed much, but at the same time, it feels different."

"Hey, Sonic!" His best buddy, Tails, called from afar. The two-tailed fox flew to his direction, his tails spinning like a helicopter.

"Tails, how's it been, buddy?"

"So far so good." Tails landed next to him. "I heard Eggman's plotting to obtain the Powers from the Chosen One, and couldn't hold myself from giving a helping hand."

"I appreciate it, pal. So, whatcha' got?"

"Oh yes" He took out his Miles Electric device. "I've gathered information regarding the Sun Medallion and seven gems lost in time, but the data is incomplete. Since there's a chosen, they might have the rest of the info I need."

"I just met the Chosen One, but I don't know where she lives."

"No problem! I redesigned the Miles Electric to detect the energy radiation the Powers emit. We can find out where the chosen lives in no time."

Sonic smiled. "And that's why I'm glad to have you, Tails."

"Thanks, pal."

And so, the two besties took a stroll.

 _Meanwhile, at J.J.'s apartment..._

J.J. had switched back to her human form, and was wiping the dust off the items in her shelves.

"Hey, Infinite..."

"Hm?" While J.J. cleaned up, Infinite just sat near the dining table, tapping his finger in boredom.

"I'm curious, why did Sonic argue with you? I mean, both of you mean well."

The jackal sighed sharply. "I don't like him, J.J. He thinks I'm some kind of pathetic monster."

"Infinite!" She gritted her teeth, looking back at him.

He rested his head on his palm. "It's the truth, kid. Nobody likes me."

She moved on to the kitchen and wiped the counter with a damp hanky. "No one except me, you stubborn jackal. Stop thinking about yourself that way, or you'll get yourself some depression."

Infinite raised an eyebrow. "What do you know about depression?"

She stopped wiping for a second and thought. "Um... Well..."

The jackal crossed his arms and laid his head on the table. "You can't tell, because you're always so happy and carefree. You don't worry about a thing, or show concern about anything at all."

She walked to the dining table and threw her hanky next to Infinite, feeling upset. The jackal's heterochromatic eyes looked up at her with no apparent expression. "Okay, Infinite, you're starting to act rude. I mean, of course I worry! It's just that..." She let out a puff of air. "...you don't get to be sad all the time. There's lots of things in this world that can make you happy. You're just _way_ too blind to see it."

Annoyed, the jackal stood up, pushing his seat back. "Well, if you don't like it then...!"

A knock at the door forced them to stop arguing and look toward the door. J.J. ran at the door, switched to her rabbit form, and opened it, peeking to see who visited.

"Hey, J.! Mind if we come in?"

"Hey, Sonic!" That name irritated Infinite. He crossed his arms and turned away. "Sure, come in!" She opened the door wider for Sonic and Tails to come in to her apartment.

Sonic and Tails admired how clean and organized her apartment was, despite being so little. Almost everything was near them. The kitchen, the tiny dining table and bed were the closest. The bed was placed near a window, while the dining table and two chairs were near the door, and the kitchen was not too far at the left from the bed. The shelves J.J. cleaned were filled with decorations, books and other valuables.

"I know, it's small, but I hope you feel yourselves like home." She said kindly.

"Your place is great, J." Said Sonic, looking around.

"Thanks! Almost reminds me of how Infinite sneaked us in without even knowing it was my own apartment." She sneered shortly. The jackal huffed at that, it was not something he'd want the hedgehog to know. "I know, that's embarrassing. Anyways, why are you here, Sonic?"

Tails stepped forward. "I've collected some information about the Powers. You must be the Chosen One."

"That's right. But, what kind of information?" J.J. raised an eyebrow.

The three anthros heard a loud yawn coming from the jackal.

"J.J., could you shut the lights? It's almost bedtime." He headed to the kitchen to grab a drink.

The rabbit girl frowned and took a deep breath of patience. "Can you guys give me three minutes with my jackal friend?" She whispered to Sonic and Tails.

"Sure." Sonic replied. J.J. headed off to talk with Infinite in private.

"Sonic... isn't that Infinite?" Tails asked with a low voice.

"Yeah. I still can't believe she's actually friends with that guy. It's kind of offbeat to me."

They both watched as J.J. kept talking to Infinite, trying to convince him, or forcing him to as she pulled him from his arm so that he could join them. The jackal refused every time, but J.J. didn't give up. Tails' eyes grew wide a little as she used her strength to pull him. He was stronger than her, and heavy.

"And talk about a tough friendship." Sonic commented.

"Hehe, I think J.J.'s too much for him." Tails laughed.

"Come on, Infinite!" She groaned, still pulling. The jackal supported himself from a wall in the corner of the kitchen, preventing her from pulling him to the team. "Stop... grr... struggling!"

"You stop it, J.J.!" Infinite tried yanking his arm back. "I told you, I do _not_ want to see that hedgehog's face again!"

"Is this gonna' last forever?" Sonic called, causing the jackal to loosen his grip, and fall over the rabbit girl, who pulled hard enough for both of them to hit the floor. They quickly withdrew and stood straight, feeling embarrassed.

...

From a shelf, J.J.'s hand picked a somewhat old book and blew off the dust. She showed it to Sonic and Tails. The two sat on the floor along with Infinite, whose face couldn't hide the anger and botheration he felt. Being forced to do things annoyed him to the highest degree. He wasn't one to follow orders, but apparently acted as J.J.'s subordinate.

"I found this book a day after receiving the Powers." Said J.J. as she sat near Infinite and the heroes. "I guess destiny brought me to it all along. I never opened it out of fear because, I didn't even knew how to control the Powers, and my rabbit form got me scared enough."

"How did you obtained the Powers?" Tails asked.

Infinite's ears perked up. "That's not a story children like _you_ would like to hear." He frowned at Tails.

"Infinite!" J.J. nudged him in the arm. "Ahem!" She opened the book and read through its pages while the heroes payed attention. "Five months ago, the Sun's potential grew exponentially, and thousands of light streams fell from the sky. One of those lights pointed at me, and a pillar of light struck me. The next thing I know, I woke up like this." She gestured down at her rabbit body.

"Did you experience any pain or any supernatural symptoms?"

"No. But I remember having a vision. I saw some kind of female covered in light. I couldn't even see her face, though." She found a page in the book describing the Sun Medallion, and began reading. "Okay, here it is. The Sun Medallion, a relic that dates back to prehistoric times. Its core contains an unspeakable source of pure energy, able to assimilate millions of different powers and abilities."

Infinite raised an eyebrow. The heroes glared at each other.

"In order to function, the Powers must make contact with a skilled or empowered being." J.J. continued. "Once done, the Powers will record their abilities in the heart of the Chosen One. The Powers, besides possessing this ability, have unique effects of their own, gifting the Chosen One with an extended variety of special capabilities." She stopped reading and eyed her partners. "Maybe that's why I'm able to switch forms. I mean, I knew how to control it before, but I never thought it was already part of the Powers."

Infinite noticed the empty holes surrounding the outer circle of the Medallion, and looked closely.

"Your Medallion, there's about seven holes around it."

"Huh?" J.J. looked down at it. "You're right, Infinite. Now that's something I didn't know. This is all new to me. Who knew this Medallion had some missing pieces?"

"And what kind of pieces are they?" Sonic asked.

"According to my resources, there are seven gems lost in time, but I don't know anything else." Said Tails.

"Hm..." J.J. looked through the pages until she found something. "Aha! I think this might be it." She pointed at an image displaying seven round gems. "The seven Elite Stones, legendary gems lost in time. That's crazy, I mean, if they're lost, how can we find them?"

"There." Tails pointed at the lower section of the page. "It says the seven Elite Stones rest under mystifying yet recognizable areas of the world."

"Mystifying yet recognizable?" Sonic asked.

"Not sure what that means, but wait. It says that only the Chosen One will be able to find each and every of these ancient gems."

"How? I can only make force fields and switch forms with the Powers. Are you saying there's more about this?"

"It could be possible. We just need to do some more research on what the Powers can do, and how you can track the seven Elite Stones with them."

"Sounds like adventure time's coming!" Said Sonic. "We'll sleep for now, but once the Sun is up tomorrow, we'll go out for a treasure hunt!"

"Count me _out_ , hedgehog." Infinite said and departed from the circle. J.J. sighed, and went to talk to him, again.

"Infinite, come on! What's so bad about a little adventure?"

"I told you it was best that we did this alone, J.J. I don't want a blue rat getting in our way like he almost did when we met."

"Sonic is a _hedgehog_ , Infinite." She corrected. "Please, come along with us. I'll be sad if you don't. You know I'll be needing your help."

Infinite sighed. "Fine, J.J. I'll go."

"Yay!" She smooched him in the cheek and turned to the heroes, ignoring the blush she left in the jackal's face. "Well, we're in!"

"Great! So, we'll see you tomorrow?" Sonic asked.

J.J. nodded.

 _Later that night..._

The night was silent, and the lights were out. J.J., now in her human form, had fallen asleep already, but forgot to cover herself, so Infinite tucked the sheets over her body for her.

"Sleep tight, child." He said low enough to keep her asleep. The girl moaned and rolled over, hugging her pillow.

The jackal glanced up at the moon behind their window, thinking about how their future adventures might turn out to be.


	3. Green Elite Stone of Courage

**A/N: More than 200 views! Thank you so much, everyone! I hope you're enjoying this story!**

 **And I apologize for taking so long to make this chapter. Well, here you go! :)**

* * *

 _At Twinkle Park, about 2 hours 'til noon..._

"That's weird. J.J. said she'll be here first thing in the morning." Said Sonic, rubbing his chin with his fingers. He and Tails had reunited at the entrance of Twinkle Park about 30 minutes after J.J. called them that morning. She had to notify them before taking another break to sleep since it was so early.

"I wonder what's taking her so long." Wondered Tails.

"I'm pretty sure Infinite's getting the best of her so that she doesn't come." Sonic suspected. "I still can't help but get a strange feeling about that guy, and I'm worried about her."

"Yeah, me too. But it's J.J. we're talking about, the Powers chose her for a reason."

"You may be right, Tails, but still..." Sonic thought of the time J.J. doubted herself, but didn't wanted to bring that up to their conversation.

 _At J.J.'s apartment..._

The girl stretched her arms to the sunlight and rubbed the sleep off her eyes. Looking down at her left, she watched as the fluffy jackal slept in his own inflatable bed. She could tell he was snoring a little, too.

Without hesitation, the girl silently got to her feet, opened the curtains and sneaked beside the sleeping creature. She laughed under her throat. His hair was messed up, and he looked severely adorable to her.

As her hands touched his arms, she could feel his warmth, and the way he was breathing. His nose flicked a little as he snored.

"Morning, Infy." She whispered, shaking the jackal softly. The jackal's left ear flicked. He was laying on his right side.

"Mm?" He moaned and rolled over, nearly hitting J.J.'s face with the back of his hand. He was now facing her.

J.J. chuckled. _"You're too cute when you're sleeping, little jackal. If only you were this cute when you're up."_

"Infinite..." She whispered to his ear, shaking him again. This time the jackal moaned annoyed. "Infinite! Wake. Up! We have to meet with Sonic and Tails in two hours!" She whispered a little harshly to his ear. It constantly flicked.

The jackal laid on his back. "Argh. Can't it wait?" He groaned and breathed.

The girl jumped over him and shook him wildly. "Infinite, come on! You said you were going with me! Please, wake up!"

But the jackal put his hand on her face and pushed her away. "Go to sleep, kid. It's still early."

J.J. frowned. But as she thought of a better idea, she grinned. She headed to the kitchen and opened the fridge.

"Okay. Sleep tight then, little jackal, while I eat all your delicious _steak_."

The jackal quickly jumped up. Almost as if he was as fast as the speed of light, he appeared beside the human girl, and took the bowl of steak off her hands. "NOT MY STEAK!" He held it protectively. But as he looked up at J.J., he saw she crossed her arms at him. He leaned against the counter, giving her a look. "Ahem! Good morning, J.J."

"Hm. At least you've learned a lesson, big man. If you don't wake early, your steak pays the price. Now come on, we should meet with Sonic at Twinkle Park." She took his favorite food, put it away and went to prepare.

"We should meet with Sonic at Twinkle Park, huh." Infinite made fun of that, but his friend heard him.

"Infinite!"

He growled annoyed. "Okay..."

 _Later, at noon..._

The beloved friends strolled around Twinkle Park until they found Sonic and Tails. Immediately, J.J. ran to give the blue hedgehog a hug.

"Hey, Sonic!"

"J.! Good to see you-!" He was interrupted by the excited rabbit's hug. He had no choice but to give in to the hug in a nice way.

"Glad I made it here! How's it been?" J.J. asked, withdrawing from the hug.

"Great as ever! 'Sup, Infinite?" He gave the distant jackal a thumbs up. Despite knowing the awful things he had done, he wanted to keep some peace for J.J.'s sake.

Infinite huffed and drove his eyes off the hedgehog, not wanting to say hi. J.J. looked at him, but said nothing.

"Is he always like this?" The blue hedgehog raised a brow.

She looked back at Sonic, holding the jackal's hand and pulled him close to the crew. "Ehm, most of the time. But inside he has a heart of gold. Trust me when I say this, because he can be kind sometimes." Infinite took his hand off of hers and crossed his arms.

"Doesn't look like he's acting kind right now." Sonic muttered. "Anyway, I hope you're ready."

"I'm always up for an adventure. Right, Infinite?" The jackal didn't said a thing, but she ignored that and took her book out. "I brought my book with us. It has lots of important stuff about the Elite Stones, so there should be a way to find them."

"It did said the Elite Stones rested under mystifying yet recognizable areas of the world, right?" Tails asked.

"Right." J.J. nodded. "But what caught my attention was this. In a page Infinite and I found some weird riddles, probably clues to find the lost gems." Sonic and Tails glanced at each other as J.J. looked through the pages of the book. "Let's see... one of them said _"In an island of green, far in the south, the Stone of Courage lies in one of three faces' mouths."_. I'm not sure what that means." She closed her book then.

"Well, I'm having an idea. I guess Green Hill's our first call!" Said Sonic.

"Isn't that too far? I mean, it might take us days to get there." J.J. said worried. "How are we supposed to travel?"

"Don't worry! I know just how to get us there!" Said Tails.

...

A red biplane's propeller spun at a rapid speed as its engine started. While Tails got ready to pilot his very own biplane, Sonic and Infinite positioned themselves on each wing, while a seemingly nervous J.J. sat on the back seat. It was her first time, and she was scared of heights.

"Are you sure it's safe?!" She yelled as the loud engines couldn't let her speak normally.

"Chill, J. It'll be fun! Just think of flying!" Sonic replied.

"Okay, everyone! It's time for takeoff!" Tails announced. He took note of J.J.'s nervousness, and helped her the best way he could. "Just sit back and relax, J.J. Be sure to get your seat belts on too."

J.J., still nervous, nodded. She knew she could trust them, though, so she calmed down a little and laid her back.

With the biplane warmed up and ready, the heroes took off in the sky. As the aircraft ascended in a 40 degree angle, J.J. covered her eyes in her hands, feeling a tickle under her spine **(A/N: The kind you feel in a roller coaster or something.)** while Infinite, fearless, admired the view down below from the wing he stood on. He could see their entire country shrinking as they made it to the clouds in the sky. For him, it was a somewhat wonderful experience, but he never admitted such feelings.

"Next stop, South Island!" Sonic announced, pointing forward.

...

When the sensation eased and faded, J.J. slowly uncovered her eyes. They glimmered at the cotton clouds surrounding them, and the tone of blue brought a smile on her face. She carefully looked behind them, and even felt some courage to look down, but once her pupils noticed the massive height, her heart pounced, and she yelped as she sat on her back, trembling. This caught both Sonic and Infinite's attention.

"You alright, J.?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah, b-but... the heights!" She covered her eyes again.

"Oh, for..." Infinite rolled his eyes and jumped off the wing to the little corner between the front and back seats, and stood in a cat position. "J.J., look at me." He called seriously, _very_ seriously.

"I can't!" She squirmed, but Infinite took her hands and yanked them off her face. The poor rabbit had to face his sharp, heterochromatic eyes.

"You're not scared, you hear me? No weakness! You're _not_ weak!" He nearly yelled at her of how serious his voice sounded.

"Hey! Calm your tempers, Infinite! You're scaring her more!" Exclaimed Sonic.

J.J. laid her back and narrowed her eyes, feeling sad.

...

Some time passed. The sun was starting to fall in the horizon, giving the sky a wonder of colors. J.J.'s sadness quickly disappeared as she contemplated the beauty of the clouds and the continents down below. She still felt some fear, but overall admired the scenery.

They soon flew past Angel Island, which J.J. saw with glistening pupils. She awed, watching as a cascade's waters in the island fell with beauty and finesse.

...

At the Shrine Isle, Knuckles rested beside the Master Emerald before hearing the engines of Tails' biplane. After several months of taking back the world from Eggman, he took some time for himself in his beloved home, also guarding the Master Emerald. His eyes opened once he spotted the biplane, and he waved hello to his friends, who waved back at him from the plane. J.J. also waved to him, despite not knowing who he was.

...

Large hours of traveling came and went, and the moon replaced the sun in the sky. The clouds were painted in a soft touch of dreamy blue and silver, and the stars ornamented the skies.

While Sonic took great vigil on the skies, Infinite looked down at J.J. in the passenger seat. She fell asleep on her left side, and her hand hung from the side of the plane. In his heart he felt an urge to smile at how cute the rabbit girl looked in her sleep, but he shook his head and took his eyes forward, letting out a sigh.

"How long 'til we get to Green Hill?" Sonic asked.

"We're just a few hours away." Said Tails. "South Island should be close by."

But suddenly, the Sun Medallion in J.J.'s collar blinked. The energy surge she felt afterwards woke her from her sleep. Moaning, she looked down at her Medallion.

"Hm? I sense some surge of energy coming from somewhere." She said sleepily.

"About time, sleepyhead." Infinite commented. "Keep track of it. It could be something."

"Look!" Tails exclaimed.

In the far distance, they could see South Island. J.J. leaned forward to see it right when the Medallion kept blinking brighter.

She gasped, she sensed the surge stronger. "The energy's coming from there."

Tails followed the direction J.J. pointed to, making a descent towards the island.

...

The sun rised again, marking the start of their second day of adventure. The anthros and hybrid* strolled through a spacious area of the paradisal Green Hill, eyes looking everywhere as J.J.'s Medallion kept blinking.

"Hmm... in an island of green far in the south, the Stone of Courage lies in one of three faces' mouths." She thought of the riddle one more time. "Three faces' mouths?" She was about to say something when she heard a groan from Sonic, who stretched his arms to the sun.

"Man, how I missed this place. Last time, Eggman turned it into a desert."

"Really?" J.J. asked.

Behind them, Infinite's ears perked up. He heard something from afar.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know..."

"It's okay, J." Sonic touched her shoulder. "You don't have to worry, besides things pretty much got back to normal here."

J.J. smiled. Just then, Infinite pulled her away from Sonic.

"Aah! Infinite, what is your problem?! Is is jealousy?!" She shouted at the jackal, who just kept walking, pulling her arm.

"We have to go! Things are _definitely_ not normal here!"

Sonic and Tails watched them part. "Infinite, chill. It's not like something's gonna' come out the ground and eat us."

The jackal stopped and confronted him. "You're too careless, hedgehog. I wouldn't expect you getting distracted while your friends suffer."

"Hey!" Sonic frowned.

J.J. yanked her arm off. Such comments displeased her.

"How dare you say such things?! You know what?! It's over, I'm leaving!" She yelled at the jackal and fled, holding the urge to cry.

But Tails' Miles Electric beeped, picking a signal of an unknown life form from underground. It was approaching their position fast.

"J.J., wait! Infinite's right, there IS something coming from the ground!" That alerted the hedgehog and jackal.

Before they knew it, a tall, black and slimy monster with three heads and tentacles for arms broke through the soil and arose with a loud growl. J.J. stopped right in front of it and gasped.

"J.J., run!" Sonic shouted.

The rabbit made a run to escape, but one of the tentacles blocked her way while another took a tight grasp on her. The three-headed monster brought the rabbit close to its central head, and its eyes began to glow a strong purple light, keeping itself focused on her Sun Medallion.

J.J. screamed as a strong pain struck her head. Her Medallion's light blinked, but this time, intermittently, as if it was about to fade off. In her head, she could hear horrifying shrieks, like in a horror movie, and it was ear-shattering for her.

"J.!" The hedgehog took a boost and ran to save her, avoiding the monster's tentacles as they shattered the ground he ran on.

"Darn it!" Infinite brought out his sword and engaged the monster.

The monster swung a tentacle at Sonic, but he quick-stepped out of the way and spin-dashed at the monster's right head, hitting it with a powerful blow. It affected the monster, but it didn't lose its grip on J.J.

"Sonic, help me!" The rabbit girl yelled in distress.

The blue hero landed on his knees. "Hang in there, J.! I'll get you- augh!" Another tentacle pushed him away.

"Sonic!" Tails stood next to him and helped him up.

"Stand back, Tails. I don't want this thing to hurt you either." He commanded and approached the monster at high speed.

Infinite, however, jumped up one of the tentacles that was about to grab him, and sprinted his way up, slicing the other tentacles with his sword on his way up. On that same moment, Sonic boosted his speed and jumped to the monster's central head.

The black jackal used some momentum and took off in the air, towards the tentacle that held J.J., and sliced through it. The monster shrieked as its loosen tentacle slid off of the rabbit's small body, letting her fall. Sonic spin-dashed at the monster's central head strongly enough to push it back. It revealed an oval-shaped mark on its belly.

Infinite advanced at J.J. and grabbed her before landing perfectly on his feet, and set her down. The girl was out for a short while, and opened her eyes once they touched the soil.

"Infinite?" She looked up at the jackal, whose eyes magnetized on hers.

Sonic landed next to them, accompanied by the young two-tailed fox, who approached them. They all watched as the monster's tentacles recreated themselves in a purple aura. The slime monster was complete again. It roared at the heroes, ready for a second round.

"It fixed itself!" Said Sonic.

"Slicing through its tentacles or hitting its heads won't make it." Said Tails, already scanning the creature for a weakness. "Its weak point is the mark on its belly. It'll take about three hits to beat it."

"Then let me help!" J.J. quickly got up, but Infinite held her shoulders.

"No! You're staying back. You saw what that monster did to you!" He exclaimed.

"Infinite, what happened to "no weakness"?"

Infinite's eyes never blinked. He thought of the many times he told her that, and the thousand times he refused to let her help.

He sighed. "Fine, but keep your guard on." Such words made her smile.

The monster roared again, and stomped its tentacles at the heroes. Both J.J. and Tails felt fear, more than their counterparts, but the glimmer in J.J.'s Sun Medallion increased. She gasped as the same energy she felt before grew even stronger. The surge was close.

She looked to her right. Right behind the monster was a totem with three faces. In the one with an opened mouth resided the First Stone.

 _"In an island of green, far in the south, the Stone of Courage lies in one of three faces' mouths."_

"One of three faces' mouths! I got it!" She exclaimed.

"Huh?" Sonic looked back at her.

The heroes didn't had time to talk, the monster was already close, and was about to smash them with its thick tentacles.

Sonic held Infinite's and J.J.'s hands, while J.J. held Tails', and all took off at the speed of sound right before the tentacles shattered the ground behind them. Sonic took a good run before they all skid to a stop, kilometers away from the monster.

"The First Stone, it's in that totem! We have to retrieve it!"

Sonic and Infinite saw the gem in the distance. Its glow was potent enough to attract the monster. Once it noticed it, the monster slowly turned to obtain it.

J.J. gasped. "It's going for it!"

"Okay, guys. Here's what we're gonna' do." Said Sonic. "It takes three hits to get rid of this thing. Infinite, you distract it with upper attacks."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" The jackal asked.

Sonic sighed. "Get it to look up." He turned to J.J. "J., you go and grab that Stone before it does." J.J. nodded. "Tails, you'll go with J., protect yourselves."

"Uh..." J.J.'s voice shivered, but couldn't say a thing.

The slimy creature rushed at the heroes, cutting their chit-chat.

"Go!" Sonic ordered before running towards it along with Infinite.

The monster threw its tentacles at the jackal, but he sliced them with proficiency and speed, clearing the way for Sonic to move on. Infinite soon climbed up its body and launched a sword attack at its neck. The monster let out an ear-shattering shriek, similar to the one J.J. heard in her head.

This caused her to stop in her tracks and hold her head, bending her legs.

"J.J., are you alright?" Tails asked, holding her hand.

"It's doing it again!" She groaned and panted in pain. The glow in her Medallion became intermittent again.

...

Infinite succeeded in making the monster look up, but he knew it wouldn't last long. He landed far from the beast and watched as Tails helped J.J. out of her pains.

"Come on, J.J.! No weakness!"

...

Sonic ran at high speed and spin-dashed at the mark in the monster's belly, hitting it once, then twice. He suddenly got distracted when the monster hit him with a tentacle and moved towards the running rabbit and fox.

The hedgehog hit the ground hard, and could only watch as his best friend and the Chosen One were in the brink of danger.

"Ugh..." He crawled, his body hurt from the hits he took.

...

J.J. panted. The Stone was still far, and she was already getting tired.

"Tails... wait..." She couldn't run anymore, and fell on her legs.

The fox and rabbit were stranded in their way to catch the gemstone. The monster had caught up with them, and was about to attack them with a mouth blast coming from its central head, but Sonic came just in time to save them. He hit the monster's three heads and knocked him off. J.J. summoned a force field, because the monster fell over them, but she protected herself and Tails from getting hit.

Sonic landed near the two. "You guys okay?" He panted, holding his hand on a knee.

Both Tails and J.J. aided him. "You can't keep fighting like this, Sonic. You need more power!" She said with concern. And when she looked back, she saw the totem was already close.

The monster, resilient, stood up one more time, but its resistance didn't last long.

"It will take a stronger hit to beat this thing." Tails said.

J.J. thought of the Stone of Courage, and took a run for it without the heroes noticing.

"Huh? J.J., where are you going?" Sonic called, already noticing her running off.

When she finally reached the totem, she used her rabbit abilities and leaped to the face with an opened mouth, and took the Stone of Courage from it.

"Sonic, use this!" She threw the green gem as hard as she could, it left a trail of green sparkles in the air, and landed on the hedgehog's hands.

In an instant, the Elite Stone began to glow in the hedgehog's hand, giving him its power of endurance. His muscles became more resilient than before.

"Whoa!" He awed as its power overflowed in him, and gave him a green aura. Without any more time to waste, he charged another spin dash and hit the monster's belly mark. The monster shrieked, squirmed and later disappeared in flowing black matter.

The hedgehog took a landing before collapsing as the gem's power faded out of his body.

 _Later..._

"Sonic? Are you okay?" The blue hedgehog opened his eyes to Tails and J.J., and was helped up to his feet.

"Ugh, what was that all about?" He groaned, holding his head.

"The Elite Stone, it gave you its power." Said J.J. "In the book it said the Stone of Courage could make its user resilient for a brief period of time. You were capable of defeating that monster with such resistance. But on a non-chosen being, an Elite Stone may drain some of their energy."

"Whew! Well, that was some good stuff right there. I can't believe you got that stone by yourself, J."

J.J. blushed. "I tried to have some courage."

Infinite wiped the blade of his sword with a hanky, and stared at his counterparts, not truly saying a thing.

"So, what's next?" Sonic asked.

"Oh, yes!" J.J. accessed the book for the Second Stone. "The next Elite Stone is the Red Stone of Strength. The riddle says _"Hot and brilliant is your next course. Be wary of an unstoppable force."_." She wiped a sweat off her forehead. "Oof. Just thinking about it makes me sweat."

Sonic handed the Elite Stone to J.J. "Hey, thanks." He smiled.

J.J. chuckled, and placed the gem in one of the holes of her Sun Medallion. It sparked slightly.

"Let's get going, everybody. The Second Stone awaits!"

Tails, J.J. and Infinite nodded.

...

And so, the heroes departed from Green Hill on Tails' biplane, taking off in the sky one more time.

...

 **A/N: Dang! More than 4,000 words! This was a pretty long chapter, don't you think?  
**

 ***J.J. is both a human and rabbit, so I made her a hybrid.**

 **Please review! :D**


	4. Red Elite Stone of Strength

Flying high, the heroes enjoyed the cool breeze. This time, J.J. traveled beside her partner on the left wing of the biplane, arms opened wide to the sky.

"Feels good, doesn't it?" Sonic asked with a smile.

"It's wonderful! Flying like this really is a good experience!" Said an ecstatic J.J.

"Not bad for your first time." Replied Infinite, admiring his friend's courageousness. He took a short glare at her, repeatedly thinking if he should hold his hand on her back.

Tails' Miles Electric beeped, showing a radar on its screen. The radar picked a strange signature...

"That's strange. Some kind of energy signature is approaching us at high speed."

"Huh?" Sonic, J.J. and Infinite looked around, but saw nothing.

They soon noticed the sky turning dark, and the clouds gathered for a heavy storm. Thunder rumbled, and the wind's strength intensified.

"Your cheap device is wrong. It's just a rain." Said Infinite. J.J. gently embraced on the jackal's right side. The weather was turning cold. It almost reminded her of one of the days they escaped from Eggman's wrath.

"Infinite, please don't be rude to Tails." J.J. laid her head on his side, but a nerve triggered her as the Sun Medallion burned in her collar. But this burn was stronger than the previous time. "Ah!" She held her head in her hands, once again hearing the creepy shrieks from before.

"J., what's wrong?" Sonic asked while Infinite held her shoulders.

A bolt of lightning struck the biplane's left wing, destroying it and bringing the aircraft down, followed by a trail of smoke. Such impact almost made Sonic and J.J. fall off the biplane. The hedgehog was quick enough to jump to the other wing and grab on, but J.J. lost her balance, and could have fallen off if it wasn't for Infinite.

"Hold on!" He shouted at the screaming child while making a struggle for balance, but it would never budge as the plane started spinning.

"Infinite!" J.J. cried, holding onto his hand with both hands.

The young fox felt frightened of crashing down along with his friends, so he tried to put some balance on his biplane, pulling on its steer to rise it up. But the heroes weren't too far from reaching the deep seas.

Sonic's eyes widened. "Better hurry up, Tails!"

The boy was able to level the biplane right above the ocean waters. Fortunately, they weren't too far from mainland, and the biplane's speed quickened due to the impact, but he couldn't fly any higher.

Infinite was finally able to save J.J., and she hugged him in gratitude.

"To your seat, now!" He ordered. The rabbit girl made it to the passenger seat and put her seat belt on.

"I can't get us high, so the landing's gonna' be really bumpy!" Exclaimed Tails.

Infinite could sense what could happen with such speed and impact.

"Then we've got to make it out of this safely!" Sonic replied.

"We're gonna' crash!" J.J. shouted, pointing at a large rock in the outskirts of a desert.

Time was running out...

"We've got to jump!" Said Sonic, having already thought of a plan to save themselves.

Infinite extended his hand to the rabbit. "J.J., give me your hand!"

The rabbit girl extended hers, but she couldn't stand on her seat. When she looked down, she faced herself with yet another problem...

"My seat belt, it's stuck!"

The jackal feared for his friend's life, so he immediately jumped down to her seat and, with his sword, cut through the thick seat belt.

"Come on, come on!" He gritted his teeth.

"Everybody jump!" Sonic shouted before the plane hit the rock, causing an explosion.

The anthros tumbled on the sand grounds, not too far from the biplane's location.

Sonic held his head, groaning. "Aargh. Is everyone okay?"

A muffled response was heard straight ahead. Poor Tails had his head stuck deep in the sand. Only his feet and tails were seen. The blue hedgehog hurried to help him out, carefully pulling on his legs until his head popped out.

"Oof! Thanks, Sonic."

"You're welcome, buddy."

Infinite and J.J. had fallen next to each other. The jackal got to his feet and wiped the sand off his black fur. J.J. sat up, holding her head. A sudden sadness took over her. Infinite could hear a sob. When he turned to her, he saw she had her face covered in her palms.

"Now what? First, you get your seat belt stuck, and now you cry over this?!"

Sonic and Tails approached the jackal and rabbit.

"What's wrong?" Asked Sonic.

"I'm so sorry! I should've protected us!" J.J. sobbed.

The jackal bent a knee and raised her head. "Hey, that's not your fault, so quit whimpering." In a slightly reluctant way, Infinite wiped the tears off J.J.'s eyes. Crying was unacceptable for him.

"O-okay. But..."

"Forget about it, kid. We'll find a way out of this." He offered her his hand and helped her up to her feet. J.J. held her arm, still feeling down, and narrowed her eyes.

"Look, J., what matters now is we're all safe. You heard Infinite well, we can certainly find a way out of this." Sonic tried cheering her up, and smiled.

J.J. just nodded. "Hm."

The hot winds hurled and whirled, crawling the sand around the vast desert. The path to find the Second Stone was ginormous for our beloved heroes, as the area was empty and uninhabitable.

"So, what now? The Medallion isn't picking anything." Said J.J.

"We'll keep going until we find something." Replied Infinite.

 _Later..._

Pairs of tired legs crawled on the sand, and heavy breathings were heard.

"Ah. I'm thirsty." Panted Tails, holding his stomach.

J.J. breathed out a puff of air. "Me too."

"That makes the three of us." Sonic replied, wiping a sweat. "Whew! I forgot how hot it is out here in Sandopolis. A large cup of water would do great on us."

However, the black jackal didn't admit his tiredness, so he pushed hard and kept going as if nothing happened to him.

"What about you, Infy?" J.J. asked, approaching him. She took his arm for support. The jackal didn't glance at her as he walked, excessive seriousness marked in his eyes.

The heroes stopped for a second to catch their breath. J.J. was still waiting for her friend's response, so she glared at him.

"I'm fine. Keep moving."

J.J. pulled his arm before he could even take a step. "But we're tired!"

Infinite sighed sharply, clutching a fist.

"Look, I don't know what else these Powers can do, but we-"

Tails' eyes brightened. An idea formed.

"But we..." J.J. couldn't find any more words as her white cheeks turned red by just looking at the jackal's serious eyes.

"That's it, J.J.!" Tails snapped. "Your book!"

"What's with my book?" J.J. asked, confused all of a sudden.

"In the book it said the Powers could gift the Chosen One with a variety of different capabilities. If my theories are correct, one of those capabilities could be the power of creation!" **  
**

"Creation? As in making stuff... o-out of my Powers?" J.J.'s eyes grew wide.

"It's okay if you don't know. After all, you said yourself, you were chosen five months ago. We can help you in this!" Said Sonic.

"Well... I'll try." For a moment she sounded doubtful, but didn't hesitated to try.

...

The heroes sat in a circle. J.J. placed the book in the center, looking at one of its pages.

"Creation and matter manipulation." She read. "The true origin of the Powers lies on its creation. Its energy allowed materialization to switch its form into what it is now the Sun Medallion, which rests with the Chosen One. To activate this power, the Chosen must first acquire a great need, sight into their desired object in question and appraise every detail. This power is most efficient with the Elite Stone of Wishes." She stopped reading. "One Stone I don't have right now."

"Chill, J. You can do it." Sonic encouraged the young rabbit.

Infinite just looked at J.J.

J.J. inhaled and exhaled. "Okay. I'm ready." She shut her eyes and concentrated hard on her greatest need... water.

The anthros leaned forward with widened eyes, and watched as J.J. dug her hands into the sand. She allowed it to slip off her hands and back where it belongs. A gleam emerged from the Sun Medallion as she extended her hands forward to the sand. Golden streams of energy lifted the sand to the air, forming a large bowl and four cups. A last bit of sand filled the bowl, but as it fell into it, its form changed into pure, fresh and sweet water. The bowl and cups softly made it to the ground, and the shine in the Sun Medallion wore off.

"Whoa! You made fresh water out of sand!" Said Tails, picking his cup.

"Nice job, J.! I knew you could do it!"

"That was... interesting." Admired Infinite. J.J. couldn't resist blushing by the way he smiled at her.

...

With energy on their side, the heroes continued their adventure in the desert lands. They soon ran up close to pyramids, from which J.J. sensed the energy of another Elite Stone.

"The Second Stone! I sense it!"

The anthros stopped and listened to her.

"Where is it, J.J.?" Asked Infinite.

The girl pointed at one of the pyramids. "There, inside that pyramid. I feel like it's deep on its innermost part."

"I don't know about you guys, but it feels as if we've done something like this before." Said Sonic.

"Well, neither Infinite nor I have seen a place like this, but we're ready for anything."

 _Inside the pyramid..._

The interiors of the pyramid froze with age. The anthros and hybrid could feel a chilly sensation, but members like Infinite didn't had any problems with it. Tails was as much scared as J.J., who grasped Infinite's hand ever since they entered the pyramid.

Sonic, however, showed some courage and payed no heed to his fears. He protected his companions at the front, holding a flame torch as they made their way to find the Second Stone.

"Any tracks, J.?" Sonic asked.

"T-the energy I'm feeling is the same as the past few minutes. We have to keep going." She answered, feeling shaky.

Tails maneuvered with his device. It beeped several times, detecting some signatures.

"There's some unidentified objects not too far from our position. Enemies?"

A small whirl of wind flew past them, and it got Tails scared.

"S-S-Sonic?" He shook with fear.

"It's okay, buddy. I've got your back." Said Sonic, who protected his best bud every second of every minute. He turned to J.J. and Infinite. "You guys okay?"

J.J. took a strong grasp of Infinite's hand, while the jackal seemed nonchalant.

"Ask J.J." Infinite said almost ironically.

Suddenly, the same whirl of wind made a pair of chains move and chime, and one of those chains was pulled down, bringing all visibility to zero. This scared J.J. enough to scream and embrace her dearest jackal friend. He couldn't to anything to get her off him, so he simply rolled his eyes.

"Stay calm, everyone!" Warned Sonic. "We'll catch the Stone and get out ASAP. Tails, I need you to-" The hedgehog turned around and noticed Tails was nowhere to be seen. "Tails?!"

J.J. gasped. "W-where is he? Sonic?"

"We've got to find him fast!"

But the blue hedgehog's eyes couldn't grow wider at what he saw right behind the rabbit and jackal. A faint blue ghost, covered in chains and with a horrifying look on its face prepared to dig its hands at the couple.

"Uh... Can you guys please step forward? Just a few _slow_ , cautious steps." Sonic said, trying to keep his cool and avoiding frights.

"Can you do us a favor and explain what's going on?!" Infinite asked, feeling annoyed. His negative moods somehow attracted the ghost.

"Infinite, for at least once in your life, can you listen to what I say?! There's a freaky ghost behind your back!" He nearly yelled, but realized his words scared the nerves out of the sensitive rabbit girl. "Oops."

The ghost floated down behind J.J. and held the back of her collar without her noticing.

"Who cares what's behind me! I'm strong enough to stand against..."

"Aaaaah!"

"J.!" The ghost had taken the rabbit girl, tied on its chains, and fled. Despite being an intangible creature, it could touch and attack mortals.

Sonic and Infinite made a run for their friend, chasing the ghost. Its creepy laughter filled the large halls, but it didn't seem to scare the two males on their path.

Infinite saw there were many chains hanging from the ceiling, and had an idea. In order to chase the ghost and save his friend faster, he took a good momentum and leaped on one chain straight ahead, and swung his way forward, only to trigger the lights on. The ghost suddenly stopped, shrieked, and faded away, dropping the rabbit. The jackal slid on the ground and caught her in his arms before she could hit.

"Infinite!" She hugged him as a way to say thanks.

"I can't believe you right now." Infinite muttered, seemingly annoyed at having to catch her in his arms.

"Nice catch, Infinite." Sonic walked next to the jackal and rabbit. "You're pretty good at swinging. Perhaps it's time to show you a few more skills."

"No thanks, hedgehog." Infinite glanced at Sonic. J.J. raised an eyebrow at him. "J.J. is learning martial arts, and I'm training with her already."

"Save that compliment, Infinite. We still have to find Tails." She said.

"She's right. We better keep ourselves on our- TOES!"

The floors beneath the three collapsed, and they fell down a slide sort of passage to the deepest part of the pyramid, where J.J. sensed the Second stone closer and closer.

"I don't know where this leads to, but the Stone is right this way!" She exclaimed.

They reached the end of the slide passage, landing perfectly on their feet. Infinite nicely set J.J. to her feet, and they all looked around. There was much space in that area, and there was poles and bricks on each wall.

"Sonic!" Tails called from the other side of the room. He was contained in a capsule. **(A/N: The one used to contain Animals in some Sonic games.)**

"Tails!" Sonic ran to get him out.

"Sonic, no!" J.J. warned. "The Stone's energy is massive, and it's about to fall down on you!"

"Wha-?" Sonic stared at J.J. from behind his shoulder, only to be surprised by the landing Egg Golem, and on its torso, Eggman on his hovecraft.

"Eggman?!"

"Hahaha! Well well, I dropped by to catch a hedgehog, yet I find four little rascals in a trap!"

J.J. hid behind Infinite, scared of the mad doctor.

Sonic threw an accusing finger at the villain. "Let Tails go, or you'll be sorry!"

Eggman ignored him, taking a close look at his two companions.

"Please excuse me, my dear Chosen One. You may not know the constant conflicts your hedgehog friend and I have been having." He saw the jackal in front of her. "On a side note, has your friend _Infinite_ ever told you how much chaos he spread?"

"Huh?!" J.J. felt like crying, refusing to believe what the doctor said.

Infinite held her shoulders and looked into her eyes. "Don't listen to him, J.J.! He's just taunting you! I don't even know who that man is!"

"When I get a hold of you, Eggman...!" Sonic clutched his fists. "You're gonna' regret standing there with all your little scraps!"

"With my new power in my possession, _you_ and your friends will be scrapped! Egg Golem, crush them!"

Eggman and his Egg Mobile were completely covered under the Egg Golem's bricks, and the controlled monster fired a red laser beam from the gem on its head. The heroes jumped out of the way before the beam could hit them at a 45 degree angle.

"I thought it'd fire _green_ laser beams!" Sonic said, remembering one time he had faced the Egg Golem in the past.

J.J.'s Sun Medallion glimmered strongly. Her pupils shrank. The Second Stone had already been taken by Eggman, and it was under the influence of a power stronger than hers.

 _"Be wary of an unstoppable force."_

"Sonic! Eggman's got the Second Stone!" J.J. exclaimed.

Hearing this, Infinite drew out his sword and moved in to attack. "I've got this."

"Infinite, no! It's too strong!"

The Golem's head lowered at the fearless jackal, and it quickly fired its beam at him. It only succeeded in pushing him back with the strong impact the beam created. As a consequence, the jackal hit his head and collapsed.

"INFINITE!" J.J. cried, switching back to her human form, and ran towards the jackal, but was hit by the Golem's left arm as it fought against Sonic.

...

From her perspective, J.J.'s eyes opened, but all she could see was a blur. Her sight soon cleared, and realized she and Infinite were laying meters away from the battlefield. She could see Sonic laying his homing attacks at the Golem's head. As he did this, the controlled monster's torso opened up, revealing Eggman in his hovercraft.

"What...?" She groaned, sitting up.

The hedgehog skidded backwards, stopping beside J.J. "Stay back, J.! You guys need some time to heal!" And he ran towards the Golem's torso, ready to blast a more charged homing attack at Eggman and his ugly mustache.

And so he did. The blast brought the Golem to its knees. J.J.'s eyes widened.

"Is... is it defeated?"

The blue hedgehog landed and kept his eyes on the Golem. It didn't move at all.

"So much for new powers." He commented with a laugh. J.J. smiled, but her smile quickly faded as the bricks in the Golem started to switch its form.

"Sonic, look out! Eggman's altering the Stone's energy to make the Egg Golem stronger!" Tails said from the capsule he was still on. That, and the shrieks took over J.J.'s head again.

"Argh!"

"J.?" Sonic bent a knee before her.

"The screaming! It's in my head again!"

Using a potent, dark energy which was the same that created the three-headed monster, the Golem was now able to "stretch" its arms by adding more and more bricks to them. So it stretched its right arm at Sonic, but he swiftly dodged it with a flip. As the hedgehog once again encountered the Golem, its arms acted as obstacles, constantly blocking his way. The relentless hedgehog quick-stepped as much times as he needed to in order to advance at the evil controlled creature.

"Hey, J.! Remember the time when you made water out of sand?" He evaded a rain of dark matter spheres that were fired at him.

J.J. was looking down at the unconscious jackal when he asked that, and raised her head. "Yes!"

Sonic destroyed one of the Golem's arm with a spin dash, but it rebuilt itself back up. "I need you to use that power, one more time!"

"But Sonic, if Eggman was able to alter the Stone's power, I can't possibly beat it!"

"Don't doubt yourself, J.! I know you can do this! Just... trust your Powers!" He was almost caught off-guard by the Golem's red laser beam.

The human lady got to her feet in front of Infinite to protect him. She looked down at her hands in doubt, but listened to Sonic, and closed her hands into strong fists.

The girl shut her eyes and focused on an even greater need... to destroy the Egg Golem. She imagined every detail on it, such as its brick limbs. Unfortunately, Sonic got caught and restrained on its hands. J.J. gasped, a tear running down her eye.

 _"It's pointless to use your Powers against me! Surrender, and I'll release them both!"_

J.J.'s fists shook as she could find more focus on her purpose. The grounds began to shake, and some dust fell off the ceiling. Opening her eyes, she extended her arms to her sides, causing the Golem's brick arms to tear and break apart, releasing Sonic. She was able to hold the arms aside for Sonic to hit it. He first spin-dashed at its head, once again revealing Eggman on the Golem's torso, then hit his Egg Mobile exactly eight times, fully destroying the remodeled Egg Golem to shreds.

J.J. collapsed on her knees, tired of holding onto so much force, and her power wore off. Sonic went to help her up.

"You alright?" He held her hand and helped her up.

"Yeah." She panted heavily. "Thanks."

The disconnection between the Red Elite Stone of Strength and Eggman's creation caused a red light to fill that area.

 _Later..._

Sonic released Tails from the capsule, and the Stone was retrieved and placed in a hole of the Sun Medallion.

J.J. took the unconscious jackal to her lap, carefully and gingerly holding his head. She then laid her head on his chest, finding a heartbeat. She saw Tails working with his device to scan the jackal for any injuries.

"Please tell me he's okay." She said with utter concern.

Tails took a moment before responding. "He has a small concussion, but he'll be fine."

The girl hugged her dearest friend, letting out a sigh. "Oh, Infinite!"

Sonic placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, J. He'll be just fine." He assured with a look of confidence.

They suddenly heard the Egg Mobile zapping and exploding mildly. That, and a cough from Eggman himself. The heroes frowned a little, but were surprised by the same dark matter Sonic and J.J. saw in Station Square. The matter descended over the Egg Mobile and covered it like a blanket, also taking Eggman with it.

"Wha-? Wait! Sonic, help me!" He called in distress, but the dark matter quickly disappeared with him in the air, passing by the anthros and human. The girl hugged Infinite, avoiding the matter to get into her head again.

Sonic paced quickly at the direction the matter went to, but stopped.

"It's that dark matter again!" Said Sonic.

J.J. raised her head and thought of the time she was at Station Square.

"The time Eggman attacked the city, that dark matter made him disappear. It's also the reason why I passed out." Sonic and Tails approached her. "I could hear those loud screams then."

"Perhaps this dark matter acts as an opposition to the Powers, seeming as it could control one Elite Stone." Said Tails. "Eggman's definitely up to something again, and I fear it's something worse than the Phantom Ruby."

"What's a Phantom Ruby?" J.J. muttered.

Sonic sighed. "Well, whatever it is that he's plotting, we'll make sure he doesn't win."

All of a sudden, the grounds below them began to shake. The place was about to tear itself down.

"Whoa! We have to get out of here!"

J.J. nodded. Taking the jackal in her arms, she got to her feet and escaped with Sonic and Tails.

 _Later that night..._

"Aagh!" The jackal jumped awake, panting. "J.J.?!" He looked around desperately, realizing he and the others set camp on the outer spaces of the desert. He later saw his friend asleep beside him. The girl moaned, hearing him calling her name, and opened her eyes to him.

"Infinite, are you okay?" She asked sleepily.

The black canine sighed, calming down. "Where are we? What happened? Why am I getting nightmares now?!"

"Hey..." J.J. sat up and touched his head. "...it's okay. You just had a little concussion is all. You had a mild scratch too, so Tails taught me how to put bandages in your head." The jackal realized his forehead was covered in white bandages. There was but a slight spot of blood in the middle.

The jackal shook his head. "It's not that, J.J. I had nightmares, or rather... _memories_."

"Memories?" She raised an eyebrow.

Infinite held his hands on her shoulders. "Tell me, what makes me weak? Why am I considered weak?! Why do I find goodness in strength?!" He shook her a bit violently. "Why, J.J.?!"

"Infinite, calm down! You're scaring me." J.J. flinched a little, then breathed. "Look, I don't know what makes you strong or weak, but when we met, we found strength on each other."

He slowly let go of her, bowing his head. "Perhaps you're right, kid. But those words... they linger in my mind, and it's impossible to get them out!"

Now it was her turn to touch his shoulders. He looked up at her with widened eyes. "Then don't think of those words. Forget about that, Infinite, please."

The jackal breathed through his nose. "Okay. Go to sleep. Who knows what awaits us tomorrow?"

She laid down, but found some trouble sleeping, considering what has happened. "Infinite?"

"Hm?" He looked down at her.

"I'm a little scared too. Can I hug you?"

Infinite despised hugs, as he always had, but gave her a chance since he saw how scared she looked. He sighed. "I suppose."

J.J. proceeded to sit up and hug him, laying her head on his side. Infinite felt her. She was warm, but her limbs were trembling uncontrollably, so he wrapped his hands around her for comfort.

"You're shaking."

"I-I know." She replied, feeling Infinite hugging her tighter. He felt warm just like her, and such warmth helped her fall asleep.

 _Elsewhere..._

Many robots and slime monsters worked hard to repair an area of Eggman's facility, from which a torn flag with his logo toyed wildly with the harsh winds. The gray clouds brought paleness to the environment.

Deep inside, the villain made it to a throne room, opening its doors. At the other side of the large room sat a shaded figure. Its silhouette was reminiscent of that of a woman.

Eggman bowed at the figure. "Your eminence, I wish to present my reports."

A rose petal fell off the figure's hands. Cold, red eyes glared at the fat man.

"Speak, Doctor, as I have the time for a discussion." The voice of a grown woman spoke, though she didn't sounded pleased.

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you so much for more than 300 views, you guys! It makes me super happy!**

 ***If you read the prologue to this story very carefully, you'll find the reference to this!**


	5. Friendship Is Forever

"Speak, Doctor, as I have the time for a discussion." The figure's female voice broke the silence in the throne room, and she did not sound pleased. Red, menacing irises eyed the doctor, who nonchalantly gave his report.

"We've lost the Red Elite Stone to those pests, and my concern is that that little peasant is growing stronger every second."

"Hm." The female huffed through her nostrils. "So you have failed to deliver the Chosen One before me, as I have requested?" She said, her voice sounded low and cold as ice.

"Y-yes, your eminence, but, you see, that filthy blue nuisance is interfering with our forces and-"

"THEN GET RID OF HIM, AT ONCE!" She shouted at him with a scowl, leaning forward from her seat. Calming her temper, she laid her back. "Unless you wish for our forces to disband, and remain forsaken for the rest of your insignificant life."

Eggman disliked every word she said. He didn't just wanted to get rid of Sonic and capture the Chosen One, but to acquire the power of the Dark Force for himself. "Of course not, your eminence! I will NOT let that rodent get away with this! He might have that little peasant on his side, but I always have a plan B."

The female raised a brow, but still, she listened cautiously.

"The Year of the Powers is about to end, and those pests are running around like insects, always foiling my plans. Ahem! I would like to use ten more tons of your Dark Force energy to harvest this new plan." He said, then thought to himself, _"And to claim it as my own, and vanquish you and your useless little minions with it!"_

"Huh. Of all times of my life sighting to obtain the Powers, a genius happens to come before me with the most hideous and absurd of plans!"

"Oh, just you wait, dark mistress. Your jaw will drop at my greatest invention." He grinned and rubbed his mustache in a sort of "handsome" way.

The lady sighed sharply, lowering her head to a side. "During my brief shut-eye, I had a revelation. I do realize that the Second Stone has already been taken. But that so-called Chosen One has already unraveled one of the Powers' most mysterious abilities." She lifted her voice a little at the last sentence.

"I'm undoubtedly aware of that, mistress. But-"

"SILENCE!" The woman, now revealed to be a pale lady in her late 40s and a black gown that was almost reminiscent of a vulture, threw her arm to her side, lifting a portion of her cape. "You dare trespass my throne, defeated and empty-handed, and discuss a blatantly miserable plan, oblivious of the current situation at hand?!"

The doctor clenched his teeth. She was just as evil as he was, and he despised competition. The lady slowly and elegantly walked down the stairs of her throne, and confronted the fat villain.

"We have made a bargain, Doctor. We agreed to restore this hideous empire _if_ you fulfilled your assignment of submitting the child to me. You have until the last minute of this year to fulfill your assignment. Do it, and we'll govern this world togethe-"

Suddenly, the doctor faked a loud cough, as if he had caught a chunk of food on his throat or didn't swallow a drink properly. Of course, he did this on purpose for a reason.

"I'm sorry, dark mistress. I need a drop for the day. Cough issues." He lied.

But the lady wasn't foolish enough to believe in his lies. "Go. I suppose you have plenty of work to do."

Once the doctor walked out the doors, the pale, white-haired lady, grinned.

"And I already have plans of my own..."

 _The next day..._

Sonic, Tails, Infinite and J.J. had ascended to the skies once again. But instead of using a new plane, J.J. discovered a new power, flight. With help of the book, she was able of creating a kind of dust (like pixie dust) ***** from the sand in that place and used it for herself and her friends to fly their way back to Station Square.

Their journey to the city didn't took long. Thanks to Sonic, J.J. was also able to "copy" his speed powers, but only a 10 percent of his ability. Despite this, they could fly at favorable speeds.

...

The sky already benighted by the time the anthros and hybrid landed on the streets of the city, not too many miles from where J.J. and Infinite lived.

"Ah." As the golden dust wore off and disappeared, J.J. fell on her knees, exhausted, and the Powers automatically switched her back to her human form in a flash of light. Both Sonic and Infinite rushed to help her, but J.J. held a hand up. "It's okay. I'm just a little tired." She panted.

Tails scanned her with his device. "She used too much power. Perhaps it's best that we let her rest for a while."

"I'll take her." Infinite grasped her hand.

Sonic grasped her other hand. "Sorry, Infinite, but you're not as fast as I am to take her home."

Infinite yanked her arm, pulling her to him. "She's _my_ friend, rodent. She's coming with _me_."

"Jeez, people, you act like kids!" J.J. exclaimed, standing up and snatching her hands from the hedgehog and jackal. "Infinite, we're going home. Sonic and Tails are coming with us and have some steak tonight."

"WHAT?!" It brought the jackal down that he had to share his favorite food with the guy who once accused him for being a bad guy the other night. "But, J.J.-"

"You heard me, big man. We're sharing our steak with- whoa!" She was about to walk, but stumbled and nearly fell if it wasn't for Infinite. He took her just in time, and scooped her in his arms. "Thanks." She blushed, patting his chest. Infinite rolled his eyes.

 _At J.J.'s apartment..._

A large plate of rice balls and steak was served before Infinite at the dining table. With her newfound power of creation, J.J. built two more chairs and increased the dining table's size, large enough for the four to sit and eat.

"There you go, Infy." She said, also handing him a cup of wine.

"Wow! This steak is delicious!" Said Tails. "When did you learn to cook this, J.J.?"

"Ever since the day Infinite and I met. It was a chore to find a food he liked, so I tried choosing meat foods." J.J. replied. "Most jackals love it." She whispered that last sentence and winked at the young fox.

"I see."

J.J. sat next to Infinite, and felt an urge to hug him, so she did, while the jackal was about to take another bite of his steak into his mouth. He cringed and struggled to get her off him, but he failed every second. "You cute little jackal!" She squealed.

"Stop it, J.J.!" Infinite protested. Sonic and Tails laughed.

From her apartment's window, their laughs could be heard, until some time passed, and the lights there were shut off. Crickets created their nighttime songs, and the moonlight rose to its highest peak in the sky.

...

After dinner, everyone had fallen asleep. Tails had curled up and laid on the floor with a couple of pillows. Sonic laid next to him, bending a leg up as usual. J.J., however, slept in her bed. The kitchen and dining room were perfectly cleaned up and organized.

The blue hedgehog opened his eyes and stretched. "Man, that dinner was out of the ordinary, but it's time I leave this place."

J.J., who had already awakened from her rest, took note of the hedgehog's words.

"You can stay until sunrise if you want." She yawned. "I won't mind really."

"You sure?"

J.J. nodded. "As the world's greatest hero, you're always welcome here."

"Thanks. I can't tell how much I appreciate it, J."

J.J. chuckled slightly and sleepily. "Infinite?" She looked around, seeking the jackal.

She found her dearest friend lying his head on the table. One hand held the empty cup of wine while the other just rested on the table. Sonic and J.J. could hear low snoring. Sonic sneered in a muffle.

"Shh. Come on, let's get him to bed." She whispered. Sonic nodded.

The hedgehog and human strolled to the dining table, where the jackal slept like a little baby. He looked innocent and cuddly.

J.J. smiled. "Aw. You cute little jackal. One cup and you fall asleep. It's unbelievable." She ruffled through the jackal's luscious hair. She then took him off the chair and to her arms. His head laid on her chest as she walked toward the inflatable bed. She bent a knee, slowly laid him down, and tucked him in the sheets. She kept her eyes on him, watching as his chest slowly went up and down. His snoring slowly became silent breaths.

She laid her head on his chest, picking the sounds of a strong yet steady heartbeat. "You sleep tight there, Infinite." She kissed his forehead, right above his eyes, and left him to sleep.

"Wanna' go for a walk?" Sonic suggested.

"Hm." J.J. nodded.

...

"I was always afraid of going outside at these late hours, but that was before I met Infinite." Said J.J. She and Sonic walked around the silent streets. Only a few cars rushed by, giving some light to the spot. "It's all different now, because I have courage on my side."

"I realize you and Infinite are very attached to each other. Can I ask how the two of you met?"

J.J. stopped walking, remembering the times she had been imprisoned, and how she managed to escape with the jackal. The memories prior to that moment weighed her down.

"Uh..."

But Sonic was quick to scoop her in his arms, ridding off the sudden sadness the girl felt.

"Huh? Hey! Where are we going?" She looked at him, jittery.

"Trust me, J. You'll love it!" His speed slowly increased, and he braced her tight.

The two soon left the streets and traveled to the remains of the Mystic Ruins, later stopping near a cliff, where only the stars in the sky could be seen without being disrupted by the light.

The hedgehog helped her to her feet, and with a dropped jaw, she admired the scene.

"It's..."

"Pretty cool, huh? I never imagined this place had its charms."

"Quite so. I love it!" She jumped a little with joy. "I'd stay here with Infinite and spend the night watching the shooting stars sail by."

Sonic smiled. He knew she'd never stop mentioning him.

J.J. sighed, looking up at the stars. "You see, Infinite means so much to me. I would never let him run through the path of danger, and I know he wouldn't let me get hurt either. He's my best friend. I always knew it since the moment I saved him. Meeting him wasn't exactly a coincidence. It happened after Eggman's army took over the world..."

In the memory, J.J. ran through the dark halls leading to a lab in one of Eggman's bases. ******

 _"I didn't had any powers, but I formed a Resistance squad of my own long ago. I saved my team, and sacrificed my freedom to that man. After six months of torture, and hunger, I could escape from my cell, and made it to one of his bases. Then, I found him. He was very weak, almost as if he lost some sort of power."_

In the memory, J.J. removed the remains of his mask off his face, exposing his true self.

 _"By that time, he couldn't recognize himself. He had lost his memory, so I named him Infinite, for the mark in the soles of his shoes. I never knew, though, that his name actually was Infinite, until you mentioned it. He was reluctant, and sometimes denied my help, but with time, he grew out to be the good guy he is now."_

 _Back to the present..._

"So, it's because of you that he's who he is now." Sonic said.

"Yeah, he was a little rough the first few weeks. I mean, bathing him wasn't that easy."

Sonic bursted in a laugh. "Hahahaha! You bathed Infinite? Now that's hard to believe."

J.J. chuckled. "He always refused to get a shower so I convinced him with a steak." She sighed, worried, and sat on the grass. The blue hedgehog stood beside her and enjoyed the starry sky. "Last night I felt so worried about him. He's been having nightmares, constantly talking in his sleep, saying he was not weak. And just thinking about it..."

He rested a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure he's be fine by now. You don't need to worry."

"You're right." She took a whiff and covered her nose in disgust. "But you know, I think you're the one who needs a bath right now. You reek of sweat!"

"Can't blame our adventures!" Sonic laughed. "Let's go back, Tails and Infinite should be waiting for us."

They were about to make their departure, but Sonic stopped when he heard the girl sniffing.

"J.?"

The human switched to her rabbit form, and hugged Sonic. His eyes grew big as he never expected the hug. At first he didn't know why, but when he heard her whimpering and sobbing, he hugged her back.

"Forgive me, Sonic, for doubting myself so much!" She cried, a river of tears flooding from her sweet, brown eyes. "I never really believed in myself! I never have! For six long months, I've been living with despair on my side! And now that man wants to bring it up again!" Her cries died down to low sobs and sniffs, and she slowly withdrew from the hedgehog, wiping her tears. "But... you taught me to believe in myself, and have hope that things will turn on our favor. I owe you one, Sonic."

"Aw, come on. Give me a big smile, J. Infinite wouldn't like to see you like this, so cheer up." Sonic said. "I know it's hard to let go of the past, but a great future is waiting for us. We can't just look down and burden ourselves."

"You're right." She smiled. "Thank you, friend." She hugged him again, with all her heart, then quickly let go, taking her eyes on the sky once again. "I'll be sure to visit this place again. Heck, we should do camping here some time!"

"That'd be great!" Sonic agreed. "Now, are you ready?"

"I always am."

The two friends left the place, returning back home... where, in J.J.'s bed, a new Phantom Ruby rested on her pillow.

* * *

 **A/N: Ooh! Nice ending, don't you guys think?**

 ***The dust is a reference to the pixie dust from the classic Disney movie, Peter Pan. :)**

 ****Check out Sonic Powers: Prologue! ;)**

 **I highly appreciate your reviews! :D  
**


	6. The Plan

**A/N: After many days of stressing work, I finally found some time to continue this story! I can't be sure to upload chapters quickly, though. It may take some more time for a new chapter to come up. Sorry about that, guys. :(**

 **Also, I made this chapter short just to let you know I'm still here, and that I'll be here whenever I get free time. :)**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter! :D**

* * *

Sonic ran at his highest speed, carrying J.J. in his arms. The rabbit's pupils shrank, frightened at the rain of missiles exploding behind their heels.

"Thanks a bunch, Eggman. Now we can't get a good night's sleep!" Said Sonic.

"He doesn't even care about my people, and the casualties he could do!" J.J. replied.

"It's okay, J. We can beat him in no time. Your people will be safe."

His speech got him distracted to the point a missile hit near their heels, causing an impact that pushed them forward, followed by trails of flames formed by the explosion. Because of this, the hedgehog lost his grip on his friend, and both tumbled on the ground, but survived as they skidded to a stop.

This time more and more robots descended from the sky.

"Looks like Eggman's been pretty busy." Sonic commented.

"You don't say." J.J. replied, backing away from the robots, but they already surrounded them. She thought of a plan as both heroes stood next to each other, with the robots stomping closer to them every second.

"Those are thousands of robots for us to handle." Said J.J.

"Don't sweat it, J.! I've got this."

"Wait!" Sonic was stopped by her, who grasped his hand. "Use my Powers! They will grant you the speed of light!"

"I won't let you risk yourself, J. You already used too much power!"

"It's the only way we can save the city fast!" She responded with a look of worry. Sonic, you know you need my power. And if I don't help you, the entire city will pay the consequences, and they don't deserve it. Please, let's give this a shot."

Sonic thought about it. He knew she already used too much power by just flying their way back home, but he didn't hesitated further, and nodded to her.

"Okay, J. Bring it on!"

The rabbit proceeded by extending her hands. Doing so brought out a shockwave of energy from the Sun Medallion, and its energy quickly fused itself with Sonic's body, giving him a golden aura and a granting him the flashing speed of light.

Such power allowed the quickster anthro to defeat the robot horde before they could fire their weapons at J.J., who covered her face at such winds that his power generated. When she uncovered her eyes, she saw that at first nothing seemed to have happened, but after a second the robots exploded all at once, and she covered herself again, but was saved by Sonic, and both escaped and survived.

...

From the dark throne that his ally owned, he watched as his fixed robots again became nothing but scraps.

"Nngh! That blasted hedgehog and his peasant friend!" He clutched his fists and stomped his foot furiously. "On one second I made a horde of robots, and on the other they end up destroyed!"

The villainess huffed. "Hmph. As if _you_ had enough power to even build a scrapped piece of metal." Of course, she took all the credit. "And such hideous "distraction attack" is distracting _us_ from formulating that oh-so big plan of yours."

"You misunderstand it, your eminence. That was just a plan to capture the last energy signature emitted by the Powers." Eggman explained. "I'll explain. Once the Powers choose a host, its energy emits no matter how much or little the chosen uses it."

"I am aware of its energy, Doctor." The woman, or Dark Sorceress, said sternly. "And what does this energy signature has to do with your plan, anyway?"

"If I can convert this energy into a fake Sun Medallion, we'll instantly locate the rest of the Elite Stones in no time! And once I obtain them all, Eggmanland will gloriously rise once again!" He said with greater pleasure as that had always been his dream.

"And when that happens..." The Dark Sorceress got up from her throne, revealing her face to the doctor. "...this repulsive, colorful world will be condemned with eternal darkness, and I will finally gain my revenge on that Chosen One and her people!" She nearly shouted, surprising the doctor. Her voice sounded cold yet strong and powerful, like a true villainess.

"Ehm." Eggman coughed. "First things first, the second ton of Dark Force?"

The lady scoffed. "Ugh. Do what you have to do. Just submit that Chosen One to me."

Turning away, the doctor smirked. His sinister plan was already put to action.

...

On the moment Sonic's feet touched the soil, the golden aura disappeared, returning him to normal. The rabbit girl swayed not too far from him, losing both balance and physical energy. Sonic rapidly went to her aid, and caught her in his arms before she could fall. The girl succumbed into a deep sleep then.

"J.?" He shook her, only receive a moan and a silent breath as a response. Realizing she just fell asleep, he took her in his arms and gave her comfort.

"Rest there, buddy. I'll take you home."

And off he ran.

 _Later that night..._

J.J. awoke from her sleep with a gasp, and realized she was still in her rabbit form, and that Sonic brought her to her apartment. _"That's weird. I never wake in this form. The Powers always wear off when I'm sleeping."_ She thought.

As she made a move to change back to her human form, her right hand slipped with the icosahedral gem that was next to her, and let it fall and bounce on the ground, making loud, crystallic noises. Her ears perked up at the sound of it, so she leaned to her right and picked the ruby off the floor. She looked into it, and the ruby instantly gave her a vision as it shone in her palm, its sound resonated around her.

In the vision, she saw the home she lived in destroyed, isolated of all life, burning in flames. She saw herself in the destroyed city, and in the sky she saw a particular figure with a long tail, stiff hair, and a red aura around it.

But when its yellow eye glanced at her, she gasped, dropping the ruby, and her vision faded. She wanted to know how she got such vision, but was driven by her nerves when she heard a groan from Infinite, who sat up and stretched his arms.

"J.J.?"

She quickly hid the gemstone under her pillow before he opened his eyes to her. "Uh- yes, Infinite?"

"Can you fetch me some water? I'm thirsty."

"Um... yes, of course. I mean, why wouldn't I?" She laughed a little, nervously.

Infinite could easily suspect how nervous she was, and how her left hand grasped her pillow tightly.

"Are you okay, J.J.?" He raised a brow. Just asking that made her even more jumpy.

"Me? I'm fine!" She faked a smile, but dropped it and sighed. "No, Infinite. I'm not okay."

She jumped down and sat next to him in the inflatable bed.

Infinite held the back of her head and felt her forehead with his a little reluctantly, but she wasn't feverish at all. "What's wrong with you? Are you sick?"

J.J. chuckled, separating her head away from his, and blushed. "No, Infinite. I'm fine. I-it's just-"

The jackal rested his ear on her chest and took a listen to her heartbeat. It was racing miles. He looked at her _very_ seriously then.

"Why are you acting like this?"

J.J. was stuck at words. "Uh..."

"Well?" He crossed his arms, waiting for her answer.

"I-I..." She let go of her nervousness for a bit. "Infinite, why are you asking me this?"

"Because I care about you! I'm responsible for your well being!" He exclaimed.

"Well, I'm responsible for yours too!" She exclaimed back at him, but regretted it. "I'm scared, Infinite. I'm scared of losing you."

His anger slowly died down like a blown flame, and he raised her head to his eyes.

"Listen to me, J.J. I'm strong enough to keep you safe. You know that."

"Yeah, but... why do I feel something's going to ruin our lives?"

Infinite embraced his dearest friend rather quickly, which surprised J.J.

"Nothing will tear us apart, you hear me? Nothing." He said to her in the ear, but the young rabbit started sobbing.

"Oh, come on, you little sensitive rabbit. Will you ever stop the waterworks?"

"I'm... I'm sorry." She sniffed.

Infinite sighed, patting her back. "It's alright. Calm down already."

* * *

 **A/N: Well, here you go! More will come very soon!**

 **Please review! I highly appreciate it! :D**


	7. Concerns

**A/N: Omg I missed this site so much! I haven't been able to update soon due to work, but here I am now, ready to give you guys some good chapters! Well, at least I hope so. :)**

 **Please enjoy chapter 7!**

* * *

Metallic limbs crawled right behind the heroes' heels. Turns out the infamous Dr. Eggman had rebuilt and upgraded one of his not-so-old creations, the Egg Beetle, to the point it could crawl its limbs like a real insect.

"Keep moving!" Shouted Sonic, noticing how J.J. struggled to keep up with him. Her partner, Infinite, however, could easily leap from tree to tree before they were all crushed down. He had kept his agility skills in check even after his past escape.*

The female rabbit panted. "No matter how much we move they'll still be on our toes!"

"Any tracks of that stone of yours?!" Infinite nearly shouted.

Her Medallion kept blinking as usual when detecting any Elite Stone. "The power signature's still the same! There's no way we'll find it here!"

The Egg Beetle fired streams of dark energy at the crew from its eyes, forcing them to separate from each other. As a consequence, many trees collapsed and were ultimately destroyed, but the three survived the attack by jumping over the fallen trees.

"Ngh!" The villain clutched a fist. "You lousy pests aren't getting away this time!"

Inside a ring of fallen trees, the three landed next to one another, with J.J. in the middle.

The mad doctor cut his way through the trees to pursue the heroes, whom anticipated his arrival with great suspense. The sounds of falling trees grew near every second, and every time it unnerved the poor rabbit girl.

She backed away, but Infinite grasped her hand and shook his head at her with a serious look. J.J. just whimpered.

Before Sonic or Infinite could talk to her, the Beetle's zapping claws sliced through the pile of fallen trees close to the heroes, and its eyes readied to fire at them.

 _"Please remain calm and enjoy the very last moments of your lives! Ahem! Just brace yourselves for the first few minutes. You won't care afterwards."_ Eggman's voice resonated sinisterly.

The girl grasped Infinite's hand and summoned a force field large enough to protect the three of them on the moment the machine began raining laser pellets. The force field was able to deflect the attack, but the more it worked, the more energy took from its host.

J.J. groaned at such force. For her, the Powers were three times stronger than her own body, hence the reason why it always wore her out. In fact her Powers stopped functioning because of this. With the attack still in effect, Sonic, Infinite and her retreated to a safer location, the two separating from the hedgehog.

J.J. fell on her back after jumping off a falling tree.

"J.J.!" Infinite landed to her aid, quickly getting her up to her feet by holding her by her waist.

"I'm sorry! This is all my fault!" She hugged the jackal in guilt.

The Beetle stomped its legs at the two, loud enough to scare the little rabbit. "You're quite the nuisance now, aren't you?" Eggman asked from his seat, its window opening up.

"Stay out of our lives, fat man!" Infinite shouted as J.J., frightened, hid behind him.

"Oh, I will, after I crush you to your deaths!"

"No!" J.J. cried as the jackal drew out his sword, but none could make a move on the villain. He shot laser beams almost at their toes. Its force was too great that they both fell into a deep cliff of the eastern forest.

...

From a distance, Sonic witnessed that awful moment, and spin dashed his way towards Eggman, later bumping his machinery repetitive spin attacks and creating enough damage to destroy it. Eggman's hovering device "popped" off the heavily damaged machine, and the fat man was forced to his fat body on the ground.

And all of the power he just obtained disappeared like dust in the wind as it flew as dark matter.

"Ngh! Now what do you want?!" The fat man yelled, throwing his arms out immaturely.

Landing heroically, the blue hedgehog glanced at the villain so sharply. "It's just you and me, Eggman!"

The villain adjusted his composure, grinning coldly. "Hahaha! With my newest power, you wouldn't even hurt a fly! And in this year's final day, it'll also be the last day of your lives!"

"Wait, what? You're crashing our New Year's party for some trashy plan?" Sonic asked cockily. "That's a terrible idea."

"You lousy sewer rat can't tell me what to do! I'm putting an end to you and your little friends on this year's final day, and it will be so! After all, you and that pipsqueak won't even get to that day." Sonic raised a brow. "Not even Infinite will stand against this power!"

Sonic thought for less than a second. The last time he encountered him, he mentioned Infinite. "What's your deal with him anyway?"

"Nothing a meddlesome rodent like you should care! Have fun exploding!" And just like that, he climbed up his hovering mobile in a silly way and took off in the air, letting down a lot of small explosives with his personal logo. These blinked intermittently and rapidly, causing a set of explosions around the hedgehog. Fortunately, the quickster avoided each of these small but potent bombs and survived.

However, his destination got him stranded in the woods due to the damage his arch-enemy caused.

...

J.J. soon opened her eyes, only to discover that she unconsciously used the Powers to create a gold sphere which acted as a shield. She was floating inside it, but the sphere quickly touched the ground and undid itself. Her eyes soon darted to Infinite. The poor jackal fell face-first into the soil, and had a bruise on his head. Shocked, J.J. quickly ran to his aid and turned him around.

"Infinite. Infinite!" She shook him as hard as she could to wake him up. It wasn't long enough until she heard a faint moan from the jackal.

He slowly opened his eyes, feeling the pain from his fall. "Ugh! What the heck? J.J.?"

J.J. helped him sit up. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? Please, tell me!" She asked desperately.

Infinite showed calmness, and got up on his own, holding his head on his hand. "I'm fine. Where are we now?"

J.J. eased herself and looked around. "I don't know, but this place... there's something familiar about it."

The jackal wiped his fur, removing the dirt he got from his fall. "Next time don't doubt on using those Powers of yours, unless you want any of us killed."

J.J. cringed. "Sorry, Infinite."

To help, she took out a bandage tape from her pocket and wrapped his forehead with it all the way around while he kept wiping his fur. The touch of her soft hands surprised him, and he stood still as she worked with his wounds.

"There." She tied a small knot on the back of his head. "All better."

"Am I supposed to thank you?" His heterochromatic eyes glared at her.

J.J. giggled in a muffle, blushing. "I think so."

With a huff and grin, the jackal scooped her in his arms. The rabbit gasped, but laughed at her friend's sudden occurrences. She saw this as something the jackal rarely did in his life.

"Well, I suppose _you're_ tired enough like to use your own feet." He said almost ironically while giving her comfort in his arms.

"Infinite, you just _fell_ and _hurt_ yourself because of me." J.J. responded back.

"Even so, I don't want us to be weak." That word disgusted him for some apparent reason.

J.J. embraced him and laid her head on his chest. "Hm."

Later on, they strolled around an intact area of the forest, where every detail of the nature surrounding them seemed paradisal in some way, despite the mild absence of light. This particular detail brought the rabbit female some memories.

"Do you remember the day we ran away together?"

"Hm?" Infinite raised a brow.

"Well, I was unconscious, but you told me that the two of us escaped from Eggman's base, and made it to a desolate area somewhere."

"Oh, really?" Asked Infinite, not truly comprehending what she said. "Like I'd remember that."

J.J. felt a little down. "Huh. I guess your memories won't come around too soon, will they?"

Infinite stopped and stared at his friend in his arms. "You don't need to feel pity for me, kid. Even if I don't remember a thing, I know you'll be there." Then he set her down on her feet, but J.J. looked at the ground, almost wanting to cry with joy and feeling. "Hey." The jackal touched her shoulder, making her look up at him.

"That's... That's the nicest thing you've ever told me, Infinite." Her eyes glimmered, tears of joy wanting to come out.

"Don't come at me now with that sentiment, child." He reluctantly but still gently wiped her tears away with his fingertips. "We still have to find those Stones of yours, then we'll be on our way home."

J.J. nodded, and they continued their walk, holding Infinite's hand. "I hope the others are doing okay. Being alone out here makes it all so quiet."

"Those two can take care of themselves. In fact, I still don't get why you trust more on that blue hedgehog. Spines aren't as bad as him."

"Infinite!" J.J. hissed, but said nothing more.

...

Meanwhile, the lonely hedgehog also took a stroll of his own, seeking to find the Third Stone.

"Hm. If I was a Stone in need of finding, where would I be?" He asked himself, later stopping to take a breather and admre the view.

"I hope J.'s doing alright. Tracking those things gets harder without her. And that guy... I wonder why Egghead's so interested in him. I mean, it's not like he's bonding with him again, right?"

"Are you talking to yourself, Sonic?" Tails suddenly snapped, startling the hedgehog.

"Oh! Uh..."

"It's okay, though. I have some news..."

...

Sonic made it to the Dragon Road, where temples and villages resided. The villagers there, human and anthropomorphic, bidded them welcome in their best ways.

"The location of the Third Stone coincides with its riddle. However, to pass through requires focus."

"That's no problem. Finding that Stone will be a piece of cake!" Sonic said with confidence.

"This is not about speed, Sonic. Surrounding the river's bed are traps. A second of distraction may cost you a lot."

The blue hedgehog still showed confidence, and stretched his little body, preparing for his quest. "Well, I'm always up for any challenge, and things like that are what makes life fun, y'know."

Tails sighed. "As long as no one gets in trouble, and that we find the Third Stone, I'm with you, Sonic."

"Somehow I knew you'd say that, buddy. Let's get going. We should also find our friends on the way."

Tails nodded. Then both went on their way to the river...

...

But J.J. and Infinite were the first to find it, as they strolled up the peak of the forest, later hearing the sounds of a strong waterfall. Almost as if it knew, her Medallion started glistening.

J.J. gasped. "The Third Stone's close! Come on!" She grasped the jackal's hand and ran, pulling him forward.

"Can't you run any more faster?!" Infinite exclaimed with sarcasm.

"Just a bit closer, Infy! We're almost by the river's bed!"

In less than two minutes, the rabbit was able to sight the river's bed and waterfall. Inside a cave at its top resided the Third Stone, the Yellow Elite Stone of Joy.

" _Gaze into the river of a mountain tall. Avoid it and your spirits will fall_!" J.J. said, remembering the riddle. "I can't believe we found it!" She jumped gleefully, but realized Infinite was no longer next to her. "Infinite?" She looked around with alert, but before she could even see, a trap caught her and brought her up in a net. She tried pulling it to break it it, but the ropes were too strong for her fingers.

Infinite, however, used his sword and set himself free by cutting the net down.

"I'll get you out, J- oof!"

And it was then when a shaded figure about his same size kicked him off to the trees. The jackal hit his back with the tree trunk and fell on his butt with a groan of pain. Opening an eye, he watched as the shaded figure climbed the trees to get to J.J., and was able to grasp the net which she was trapped in.

"HEY! LET GO OF HER!"

The figure seemed to notice Infinite, and landed to his knees with J.J. in the net, and for a brief moment he glared into his heterochromatic eyes, golden irises sharply suspecting something from the jackal. Infinite lunged at him, but the figure was able to counter him almost effortlessly, throwing him off to the ground. Then he fled with the trapped rabbit as if she was bait.

"Infinite!" J.J. cried.

"J.J.!" Infinite shouted. "Darn it!" He hissed and jumped through the trees to save her.

...

The shaded figure had gone too far from the river with a struggling and kicking rabbit on his trap net, but decided to stop and catch a breather, dropping the net and J.J. in it. She was set on her butt, and it hurt.

"Ow! How dare you-"

The male dug out a little orb item from his secret glove compartment and crushed it in his fist, then spread its powdery contents at J.J. "You are at ease."

The rabbit tried to avoid it, but the powder already entered her nosetrils along with a stinky smell, and its effects worked on her, calming her from her aggressive behavior.

"M-my emotions... what did you do?"

The male, a purple chameleon, released her. "It doesn't matter. Come with me."

...

"Please, I have to find my friend! Don't you know he could get in trouble when he's alone?" J.J. begged as she followed the chameleon in their walk.

"How long have you known this black jackal?" The chameleon asked.

"That's a personal question. Besides, I don't even know your name." J.J. put her hands on her hips and rested on one leg.

The chameleon stopped and thought his words very carefully.

"My name is Espio." He said as he turned to her with serious eyes. "I know who you are, and I'm aware that you're under the possession of limitless power. I'm afraid both you and your friend are a great source of concern."

J.J. raised a brow. "How come?"

"Your power is too great, yet vulnerable. No enemy will ever stop at their attempts to obtain it due to its energy radiation, not even the Dark Force."

"I know that. But wait, what's a Dark Force?"

Espio pointed a finger towards the book in her hands. "You should consult your book instead of asking."

J.J. grew a feeling of great concern.

* * *

 **A/N: And with that I end this chapter! Sorry if it was rushed. I have work ahead of me tomorrow, and I wanted to finish this chapter as quick as I could.**

 **Reviews? :)**


	8. Yellow Elite Stone of Joy

**A/N: More than 800 views! Woo!**

 **Here ya' go! A very long chapter for you to enjoy! :D**

* * *

The jackal sliced through a large bush with his sword. He was not pleased by having to walk on his own. Instead, he was angry at how Espio, someone he didn't even knew, somehow captured his very friend.

"Dang it, J.J.!" He cursed through gritted teeth. "Why is it that every time something happens, you of all people get captured?!"

He stopped for a minute, thinking of which way he should go.

"And now I've lost it." He crossed his arms and looked around. "Just where the heck are you, child?"

He chose best to quit talking and keep searching, so he took a left and ran.

...

J.J. grew a sensation of concern. "My book?" But then she sensed suspicion coming from the chameleon. "Wait a second, how do you even _know_ about my book?"

"The confidentiality of my secrets is strict. It's not something I can share with anyone, not even with the very Chosen One." Said Espio, making J.J. raise a brow and put her hands on her hips.

"For what reason exactly?" J.J. asked.

"To protect yourself." Espio said sharply, walking beside and past her. "Come with me."

 _At Eggman's base..._

"When I asked you to deliver the little Chosen before me, have I ever told you to accomplish nothing but failure?!"

"Nobody said anything about failure, mistress. That was just, uh..." The fat villain thought his words to fill the blank he had done. "...a plan to get those pests out of the way!"

The once again shaded figure extended her hand. And for some reason, it was also shaded.

"Really? So this means you misused my Dark Force and let that Chosen One get away?"

"N-no, I just got rid of her! Oh, and of that insolent jackal, Infinite, as well."

"Hmm. So that is his name..." The villainess thought.

"That jackal's now part of all that trash I wish I never had..." Eggman commented. "...so you should not have even the slightest interest in him."

"Why not?" The Black Sorceress asked, sounding very interested. "After all he was part of your empire, a powerful being whose sights were the same as my own."

"Gah! That weakling lost to Sonic six months ago! Recruiting him back would be a crucial waste of time, especially now since he's with that annoying pipsqueak."

"Well, you still have your secret plan running, do you?"

Now Eggman was almost stuck at words. Impression struck him right in the mustache. But then he thought and realized...

"Wait, of course! We don't need to convince him with words, do we?" He grinned. "Excellent idea, mistress! Now that we still have that on our side, a new plan has come to mind! And this time not even that pipsqueak will be saved from it."

"And that's why I am more than just pleased to work beside you, Doctor."

Just then, a lone plume delicately descended to the ground. The plume had fallen from the female's body. Her shaded hand picked it up and glanced into it, and an oval red eye shone with spookiness.

"So it seems our time is slowly coming..."

...

Back in the forests of the Dragon Road, Sonic and Tails made it up the peak of the mountain and to the river's bed, where they saw the glistening yellow Stone up in the river's cave inside the waterfall.

"Bingo!" He proceeded to jump towards the cave in the waterfall, but a large axe swung right in front of his nose, so he lost control and fell, but Tails acted quickly and saved him from falling into the river's bed. He brought him down next to the river's bed, where the ground was safe.

"I told you it wasn't just about speed." Said Tails.

"It's such a bummer how a peaceful river could be armed with killer traps." Sonic replied, wiping his fur. "Here goes nothin'!" He boosted up and took a jump.

In less than a second, arrows, axes and net traps nearly outnumbered the hedgehog, but he confided on his super speed to avoid each trap. He had to flip, roll and even do splits. Afterwards, he boosted towards the cave in the waterfall, and from his point of view, he feared the moment he got closer and closer to touching the waterfall. Its waters gave him a good splash before his feet touched the entrance of the cave.

"Oof! That couldn't be cold enough!" He shook his spiky fur, wiping all the water out.

He admired the colors of the cave and the touch of blue the waterfall gave to it before sighting upon the Yellow Elite Stone of Joy, which glimmered intensely as it remained stuck beneath the rocks. He reached it and effortlessly took it off. As he did this, the waterfall disappeared as if it was an opening door, and the traps stopped working and disappeared.

The hedgehog jumped to the ground beside his best buddy. "Got it! Alright, let's go find the others and go home."

But it was then when he saw Tails working with something and felt confused.

"Could this be...?"

"What is it, Tails?" He approached the young fox.

"There's some weird shiny particles, probably sand, but I'm not sure."

"Sand? Beside a river?" Sonic almost laughed in skepticism.

The young fox took out his device and scanned the particles. "I'll take a sample." But as he scanned the dust, his pupils nearly dilated at what he discovered in his research.

"What is it?" Sonic stood next to him to see, but he as well showed massive concern. "We have to find J.J., fast!" He said and ran, with Tails following.

...

In the while, Espio and J.J. sat legs-crossed on the ground. The young rabbit felt unusual as she slowly dropped her book and looked into its pages. In one of the few last pages, she found something odd.

"The Forbidden Side. Can be read only by one worthy chosen." She read.

Espio nodded for her to flip the page, and she did with a hint of fear. The next pages showed ancient images of an evil army.

"There." Espio pointed at some point in the page where ancient scripts were. "The Dark Force, servers of a goddess long forgotten."

"A goddess long forgotten?"

"Yes. Before the Powers chose you, their ruler, Vultress, sighted to obtain it and wipe all life in the universe. It had been her goal to fuse the very source of the Powers with her being, and one way to do that is by collecting the Elite Stones in your Medallion."

"Yeah, like the one I was almost about to get!" J.J. responded angrily, shutting her book with a loud slam. "Now, what's with Infinite that worries you so much?"

" _Infinite_ is not the person worth trusting. You should have known that since the war began six months ago."

"What do you mean? The Infinite I know is not a bad guy. Besides he can't even remember who he is really, but I'm trying my best to help him."

"And because of that, do you think he'd ever deceive you?" J.J. couldn't answer to that. "Hm. For a Chosen One, you're sadly oblivious."

"Hey! I never asked to be chosen!" J.J. held a hand to her chest. "And I demand the both of us find Infinite before Eggman tries something nasty!"

"If you wish to care for that monster so badly..."

"DON'T CALL HIM THAT!"

The furious little rabbit lunged at him, and did her attempts to use her martial arts skills on him, but the ninja chameleon deflected every move, whether it was a punch or a high kick.

"It's pointless to fight me." Espio said, impressively calm. "Now, stand down."

"No!" J.J. backed away. "I'll fight for him, like it or not! He's my friend!"

"I don't have any intentions of hurting you, child." Espio warned.

Again, the fierce female threw her attacks at the chameleon, and once again he blocked all of them, and even pinned the rabbit to the ground on her stomach with just one hand.

"You're not making this easy, young rabbit."

But it was then when a loud battle cry and a black shoe kicked the chameleon off, losing his grasp on the girl. He realized Infinite came to help his friend as he got to his feet.

"Infinite!" J.J. stood on her feet and approached him for a hug. "You-"

Infinite slightly pushed her away, but not in a bad way. "Stay out of this, J.J. I'll take care of him."

"Infy, I don't think you should-" But she was interrupted as Infinite stopped her with his hand.

Espio held a kunai from his secret compartment, his sharp eyes staring at the jackal with immense malice and hatred. "You. You think you've got a chance to erase what you've done?!"

Infinite threw his arm to his side. "I NEVER did anything to hurt you!"

"You can't lie to me, monster!" Espio engaged him with his weapon, ready to strike, but Infinite deflected it with the blade of his sword. "You've slaughtered hundreds of people!" One slash after the other, a new fight unraveled, with none of them overpowering each other.

 _SLASH!_

"You've almost caused mass destruction!" Espio nearly scratched Infinite's scarred face with his kunai, but Infinite bent his body backwards in a quick motion.

"You brought nothing but genocide upon our world and its people!"

 _SLASH! SLASH!_

Both weapons clashed against each other. Such was the strength both opponents used that zapping energy busted from their weapons.

"And now who knows your intentions towards this innocent child!" Espio did a jumping roundhouse kick at the jackal, successfully kicking him in the face hard enough to throw him to the ground.

J.J. gasped. _"He's gotten way too far!"_ She thought. "Infinite?!"

The rabbit ran to help him get up, but she sensed his anger. His body shivered, and he clutched his hand holding his sword.

"Okay, NOW you've angered me!" He shouted in a growl and lunged at the chameleon.

"Infinite, no!"

Before he could launch his attack, a blue blur got in between the two, forcing both to back away from each other. J.J., who had covered her eyes, uncovered them to see Sonic now standing there.

"Stand down, Espio. You're messing with the wrong person!" He said.

The chameleon ignored the jackal and turned to Sonic. "Hm. I guess I have no choice but to fight you, considering you're standing with a possible traitor."

Sonic looked back at J.J., who covered her mouth with both hands, then back at Espio. "Since when you call J.J. a traitor?"

"Since the moment I realized this Chosen One befriended the monster who tortured you for six months!"

Sonic laughed, reminiscing the time he argued with Infinite about the same thing. "That's funny, because I've had this same conversation a while ago now. And y'know, you can scratch that. We have to get outta here!"

"Why? What's going on?" J.J. asked, but her answers never came as a giant snake-like monster with a deformed mouth stomped some trees down and snarled at the heroes. "Aah!" She hid behind the jackal, shivering like the sensitive rabbit she was.

...

"Hmhmhmhmhmhm." The villainess chuckled. "Now now, Super Darkoid, be just as gentle with them. You don't have to kill them if it's not necessary." She laughed as if she made a joke. "Oh, who am I kidding?" She pointed a feather finger forward with great strength. "Cease them! Bring the Chosen One to me!"

...

Hearing its master's command through its mind, the monster hissed, opened its mouth and roared savagely at the heroes. Its roar was too strong that it emitted shockwave rings that pushed everyone off their feet and flying backwards.

 _"Next time don't doubt on using those Powers of yours..."_

Thinking of such, J.J. shut her eyes and clutched her fists, once again summoning a force field that protected, not just her, but the entire crew. The sphere bounced against the trees and to the ground until it was undone. However because it undid itself rather quicker than last time, it resulted on the heroes falling on each other like a pile.

Sonic lifted his face from the soil. "Ugh. Is everyone okay?"

"At least we didn't got killed." Infinite said almost ironically. He had landed under everyone else's bodies, and was angry to be literally mashed down. "Where's J.J.?"

But the rabbit ascended from under their bodies. "Sorry." She sweatdropped.

Their moment was interrupted as the monster snarled at them again, preparing to strike another attack. The crew quickly stood on their feet and readied themselves. With some momentum, the monster crawled towards them, dashing straight to J.J. The girl's body paralyzed with fear as the monster opened its deformed mouth widely. Within a moment's thought, a smokebomb blinded the scene. Once it faded, the snake saw J.J. and her friends disappeared.

Sonic and his crew made it up to the tall trees that surrounded the area, and observed the snake as it roared and crawled around, having some trouble with the tiny space around it, constantly hitting itself with the tree trunks.

"It's not going for any of us. It just wants her!" Said Infinite.

The chameleon bent a knee and observed the snake very carefully.

"The monster is slow when making curves. We should use this weakness against it."

J.J. also saw the Darkoid had a triangular mark on its back. "Hey, that mark looks like the other monster's." She turned to Sonic and Infinite. "Remember when we got the First Stone?"

Both nodded.

"Right now we have two of the Stones on our side. Sonic, your powers are compatible with my Elite Stones and the Powers in general. We have a chance to beat this thing!"

"Alright. I have a plan, but it might sound crazy." Said Sonic, the others listened. "Okay, so the monter's not after any of us, right? You can leave it to me. You guys take J.J. On my signal, get its attention while I hit its weak spot."

All J.J. understood was that she'd be used as bait. "Uh... what?"

"Chill, J. It'll be fine. You said yourself, we have a chance to kick its snaky butt."

J.J. sneered. "Snakes don't have butts, but still-"

The snake roared at them, finally spotting their position, and smashed its head against the tree where they stood. It was time to react.

"No time for that now. Go!" Commanded Sonic, and everyone split up, each climbing on each tree.

Sonic ran atop one of the trees and took a good jump for momentum. "Alright, here goes nothin'!" And so, he spin-attacked the snake on its spot just once. The snake snarled in pain, and turned to Sonic.

...

The Black Sorceress and Eggman could see his image from their lair through a sphere made out of black matter.

"That blasted hedgehog! Cease him, Super Darkoid! I want him destroyed first!"

"Seriously, Doctor." Eggman flinched at the Black Sorceress' strong voice. "Is it your deepest desire to get rid of him? We can take care of him once we have the Powers at their final stage."

"We can't just wait until then!" Eggman yelled in response. "Can't you see that this hedgehog is the cause of my problems?!" He pointed at the image in the back matter.

The shaded woman rolled her eyes. "Ugh. Your ambitions are nothing but prepostrous." That alone nearly irritated the doctor. She then turned to the image. "Find that Chosen One, my pet." She ordered.

...

The monster's left eye glowed at her command, and the snake did a weak turn to find the girl, only to once again hit itself with the tree trunk where Sonic was up in.

"Haha! I guess you're too slow to notice that trunk!" Sonic said cockily. "Now, you guys!" He called.

"Right." Espio was the first to respond. He jumped to the nearest tree and took J.J., then jumped down to the ground with her. The snake found them both and slowly advanced towards them, once again opening its deformed mouth.

This time, J.J. used the green Elite Stone for courage and activated a new force field to protect both her and Espio before the monster dug its teeth onto it, but did no effect to it.

J.J. groaned as she held on as hard as she could, her hands raised to maintain the strength of her power. The monster dug its teeth again and again, never stopping. Her efforts gave Sonic some time to launch his spin attack once again.

"Nice one, J." He said and charged his attack, then hit it with even greater force, causing an impact that destroyed the force field and sent both Espio and J.J. flying back.

The chameleon ninja made it to a tree, but J.J. remained in midair. She was soon caught by her hand by the two-tailed fox before she could hit anything. She opened her eyes to see Tails hovering above her.

"H-hold on!" He exclaimed. She smiled as both made it down to a tree safely.

The snake moved in to both. Tails felt some inch of fear as the monster hissed, but both were saved when Infinite jumped down from a higher level of that same tree, and slashed the monster's ugly face repeatedly. After this, he landed next to J.J., making her blush.

"I never agreed to do this." Infinite commented, making J.J. laugh. The black jackal scooped her in his arms and leaped to a higher area. He quickly set her down and took out his sword.

"Stay here, and don't move."

J.J. grasped his arm before he could land down. He'd think she almost let him slip off. "Wait, Infinite, use this!" She took the green Elite Stone from her Medallion and gave it to him.

"Are you sure it'll work on me?"

"Your body's strong enough. It should work!"

He closed his hand in a fist and nodded, not saying anything else. Then he moved on.

With a loud cry, Infinite and his sword got engulfed in green energy. He brought it behind his head and swung it down, stabbing the monster's spot with it. The monster shrieked loudly and laid on its body.

The jackal fell on his knees and dropped his sword. J.J. noticed this and jumped down carefully to help him.

"Infinite..." She whispered.

For a moment, his shaky hands somehow brought an image to his mind.

"I-I'm shaking... Why...? Does this mean...?" J.J. didn't said anything, but helped him as much as she could.

His thoughts were broken when the snake growled, but this time, weakly. It attempted to crawl at J.J. and Infinite, but its attempts proved in vain.

"The monster's weak!" Exclaimed Tails, who was still floating in the air.

Sonic landed on a tree. "J.J., now!"

The rabbit looked up at him and nodded, taking out her Elite Stone of Strength and tossing it at Sonic. Once he took a good hold of it, its power engulfed him in a red aura as he charged an even powerful spin attack. In a flash, he used the strength he acquired to break the trees down one by one.

"Everyone, move!" He shouted once landing to a safe ground.

J.J. switched back to her normal form and took Infinite in her arms. The poor jackal got worn out by the Stone he just used. They safely made it out of there as well as Tails and Espio, and the trees Sonic broke brought the snake down. The snake growled and disappeared in dark matter, and the trees collapsed by gravity.

The heroes sighed in relief, knowing their battle was won.

...

Inside the evil lair, the black matter disappeared, angering the Black Sorceress. She clutched a fist on her armrest and puffed.

"Don't be so mad, your darkest majesty. There is still a way to rid ourselves of those pests." Said Eggman as an attempt to "cheer" her up.

"SILENCE!" The furious lady threw her arm against one of the columns on each side of her throne, shattering it. Her hand was revealed to have large feathers attached to it. "Bring me... the jackal." She added with the coldest, evilest voice ever imagined.

...

The jackal awoke, finding himself laying on J.J.'s lap, with his head against her chest.

"Infinite, are you okay?" She asked softly.

He sat up. "Ugh. You said this would work."

"It did. It made you resilient just like Sonic back on Green Hill, remember?"

Espio stepped in. "You seem to have proved yourselves." The crew stared at him, but he turned his back to them, preparing to leave. "Very well, I should be on my way as I have a valley to look out for."

"Thanks for understanding." Said J.J. "We appreciate your help."

Espio nodded and jumped into the trees, then disappeared.

J.J. sighed in relief and switched to her rabbit form, but gasped as a vision of terror and destruction filled her mind. In her vision, she saw the same dark figure with long, stiff hair and long tail, but this time, accompanied by a large, black creature similar to a bird. The brief vision faded as Sonic touched her shoulder.

"Everything OK, J.?"

She couldn't control her little shaky body, but struggled against it. Infinite was also staring at her. "U-u-uh... i-it's nothing." She lied, and chose best to scratch her uncomfortable feelings. "Um, who's in for some pizza? Station Square should have them at a special price today!"

"I'm greatly pleased if you ask me!" Said Tails.

Sonic yawned. "Any chance we can get some sort of vacation? Too much butt kicking's wearing me out."

Tails laughed as he walked next to his best buddy. "I'm sure we can rest once we get home, Sonic."

"Oh! I forgot..." Sonic turned to J.J. and handed her the Third Stone. She placed it on a hole in her Medallion.

"You got it! But how?"

"You know me. Sonic's the name and speed's my game!" Sonic winked.

"It still impresses me how you got past those traps." Commented Tails.

"Neither Infinite nor I could get past them either." Said J.J., who took Infinite's hand and followed the rest. Infinite didn't really liked her taking his hand, but let her do so anyways.

And as they walked, she couldn't help but feel uneasy.

"Just what's going on with me?" J.J. thought as she grasped the Phantom Ruby inside her pocket very securely.


	9. Sticky Situations

**A/N: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR FAVORITE BLUE BLUR, SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!**

 **Here's a new chapter on his honor! Enjoy, guys! And remember to enjoy some chilidogs too, hehehe! xD**

* * *

 _Inside GUN HQ, Central City..._

A large group of agents and analysts reunited at the briefing room. Recently, the Commander had heard about the existence of the Powers and how it could affect the entire United Federation and its people.

Right after every single member made it to their seats, a large monitor slid down from the ceiling and its screen turned on, displaying the logo of GUN.

"Glad to see all of you this fine afternoon." The Commander started. "About four days from now, we've experienced a change in our country. Eggman's forces might have been limited thanks to the efforts of the Resistance, but now he's plotting an even greater threat against the people."

The screen then displayed a map of Emerald Coast.

"Our next target is in the outskirts of Emerald Coast. A rare energy signature has emerged from these oceans ten hours ago."

"With due respect, Commander, is this signature coincident with the energy radiation of the Powers?" A female analyst asked.

"I'm afraid it's something greater than the Powers." The Commander implied. "Whatever it is, ìt has to be under Eggman's control, and it _must_ be put down! Now, I need status on the other regions of the country."

"We have at least 90 teams out for rebuilding in each region of the city. Twenty former Resistance squads have reunited and are currently defending the lands from the remains of Eggman's forces in the northwestern and eastern areas. His army should be entirely reduced in no time." A female agent spoke.

Suddenly, the lights in the screen flashed red and alarms started blaring all over the briefing room.

"Commander? Sir?" A female agent reported from her desk. From her computer the map displayed a growing red spot, and it undoubtedly meant trouble. "The energy source is growing rapidly!"

"Send out our best agents. And while they're out there, locate the Chosen One. There's serious matters I need to discuss."

"Yes, sir." The female pressed a few buttons on her computer, then dialed GUN's most trusted team.

Watching the large monitor, the Commander rested his arms behind his back.

"That man has caused enough problems. Hopefully next year we don't encounter ourselves with another life-threatening monster that was this _Infinite_ character."

But the red spot kept on growing larger and larger until most of the screen was painted in red.

...

"Aaaah!" The screams of young J.J. Rabbit echoed.

A Grand Darkoid rised from beneath the seas of Emerald Coast, where it held a fight of its own against the four heroes. This one had a form that resembled that of an octopus. It had just one eye, large needle-like fangs for teeth and claws for tentacles.

Sonic saved J.J. from a massive fall and set her on the shore. "Stay down, J." He said kindly and ran over the water, back to the fight.

The monster threw smaller spears from its tentacles at the hedgehog. The quickster avoided the first and second, then leaped over the rest and smacked the octopus' spot in the head with a homing attack.

Before it could react, a dozen tiny pellets attached themselves around the octopus' head. Each blinked a few times before causing a large explosion around it. The heroes backed away to prevent damage.

"Yeah!" Cheered Tails as he hovered far from the monster. Ultimately he had invented a new kind of explosives that worked with the energy from the Powers, and they worked effectively.

Infinite stumbled beside J.J. on the shore, his sword falling near him on the sand. "I hate these things." He growled, picking up his sword and wiping the sand off of it as a ninja would clean his katana. But before he could do anything, J.J. used the Stone of Courage and skidded over the water using the Powers to make a move on the monster.

Once she got on a spot where it couldn't attack her, she began throwing several punches and turning kicks at it. The Stone's power of resilience helped her prevent any damage on her knuckles and ankles.

The jackal, annoyed, stood up. "J.J., what are you doing?!" He threw his arm down.

"Giving this piece of slime a taste of my martial arts!" She said and continued kicking the monster's body, causing little to no effect to it.

But then the monster realized what she did, and sharply stared at her.

"Are you crazy?! Powerless moves don't work on- J.J.!"

The monster raised a tentacle and nearly made jelly out of the rabbit girl if it wasn't for Infinite, who skidded his way to save her one second time. Actually he and the others were capable of using J.J.'s Powers for a very short period of time.

"Stand. Back. That's an order." He set her down a bit harshly and left her side.

The octopus threw all of its arms at the hedgehog, but only succeeded with stomping on the ocean as the hedgehog made his way through.

"J.! Stone of Strength!" He called.

J.J. nodded and stretched her arms, summoning the power of the red Elite Stone. Its power flew like a shooting star towards and into the hedgehog's chest, and its energy allowed Sonic to hit the octopus' spot with a stronger spin attack which left it swaying afterwards.

The heroes reunited back to the shore to J.J. and noticed how weak the monster was.

"You guys ready for it?"

"For what?" Asked Infinite.

Only J.J. knew what he was talking about. "Oh!" Her face lit up and her ears perked up as well, and whispered Sonic's plan on the jackal's large ear.

"I don't like the sound of that." Infinite said.

"Trust me, it's the only way." J.J. responded.

The jackal just nodded, still disagreeing, but he knew the outcome of it all.

He, Sonic and Tails once again used the Powers to skid on the water and to the monster, which kept swaying like a dizzy cartoon character, until its eye spotted them. Their plan was to get the monster to lean its face in order to strike its spot, and it worked as it kept great vigil on them to launch another attack.

"Now!" Sonic called as he, Tails and Infinite got close enough.

With a clap of her hands, J.J. used the Powers to lift the ocean's waves and give her friends a little boost. Each took a good jump once the wave ascended them high enough to face the monster.

"Lights out, creepy face!" Sonic, Tails and Infinite joined hands and launched an even powerful attack at the monster's spot, finally ridding it off to the ocean's depth.

Once they were on the shore, J.J. undid the effect and held onto her dearest jackal friend to prevent collapse. She could only use the Powers for herself and others for as little as 10 seconds. Everyone watched as the monster sunk back to the darkness where it came from, and left a huge black spot that slowly disappeared beneath the waters.

"We did it!" Sonic exclaimed.

On the moment they claimed victory, the grounds began to rumble, and the oceans lost their peace as a huge hole opened up, sucking everything near it like a black hole. Almost as if it was a coincidence, the skies turned gray, and a natural storm unleashed as the big hole began sucking J.J.'s friends.

"J.J.!" Infinite shouted, reaching out for her hand.

"Hang on!" Once again, she trusted on the Powers to force a gravity field around her and her friends. With her strength she was able to pull them at least a bit close, and could hold on to Infinite's hand.

"Hold on to your hands!" She shouted.

Infinite gave Sonic a sharp glance, and the hedgehog held onto the jackal's hand, and Tails held onto Sonic's. But this didn't last long as the Powers began reacting against J.J.'s body. The rabbit girl started feeling tired, and her strength was wearing out.

"Oh no! Infinite- aah!" Before they knew it, a small eruption separated them from each other, and the boys ultimately got sucked into the hole. J.J. was sent flying backwards to the trees on the beach

"J.J.!" A last scream was heard from Sonic as they disappeared into the hole in the ocean, and the storm stopped, returning back to a sunny day.

The rabbit girl quickly got up despite her body's limits and ran to the shore.

"No! Infinite! You guys!" She cried and fell on her knees. "And I can't swim..." She bowed her head in frustration.

Just then, a shimmering blue stone crawled by the edge of the shore. J.J. quickly recognized it as the Fourth Stone, so she grasped it and took a good look at it.

"Infinite, Sonic..." She sighed, feeling rather down. Even her ears fell at such feeling.

Almost as if it knew, the Stone reacted to her feelings and activated its energy on her, sending a large wave of calmness to her body and mind. Therefore, the girl was forced to lay on her back and fall asleep.

...

"Whoaaaaaaah!"

And the trio fell one on top of the other in a field of darkness, with Infinite being stumped on... again.

The furious jackal pushed Sonic aside rather aggressively. "Argh! Why is it that I'm the one who gets stumped on all the time?!"

Sonic, however, kept his cool, or tried. "At least give thanks for being alive. J.J. would've said the same thing."

"My life with J.J. doesn't concern you, blue hedgehog!" Infinite pointed a sharp finger at him. "In fact I never wanted us to be brought along these stupid situations!"

"Hey! Do you want your home to be saved or lose everything you know to Eggman?"

Tails acted as referee and separated Sonic and Infinite from each other. "Guys, guys! We can't start a fight now! If we want us out of here, we have to work as a team."

Infinite roughly turned his back, crossing his arms. "Fine. If it leads to finding J.J., I'll follow you." Those words were like pain to him.

"Oh, great! At least you're not so hesitant after all. Call that a compliment." Sonic said almost ironically as he walked away.

...

Out in the beach, a brooding hedgehog and a somewhat elegant female bat strolled, investigating the scene. After the hole sucked J.J.'s friends, everything had turned into disaster.

"Something huge happened, no doubt." Said Rouge.

"Keep your eyes open, Rouge. Something might try to attack us if we're not on our toes."

The bat somewhat ignored the hedgehog's command and took her eyes somewhere else, later spotting a small trunk which looked like a treasure chest.

"Hm?" She opened the trunk, but did not reveal what was inside.

"Our command was to identify the source of the energy signature, not to find hidden treasures." Said Shadow, who noticed her in the distance.

"What's so bad about finding jewels? Oh, I get it. It's always been business with you, hasn't it?"

Soon enough the hedgehog and bat found a rabbit with golden yellow fur and bright brown hair on the sand, laying on her side. The edges of the shore playfully soaked her legs and feet. They rapidly went to her side to check her out.

"Is this the source of that signature?"

"Well, she does hide a treasure indeed." Commented Rouge as her eyes glistened by the look of J.J.'s Medallion and its three Elite Stones. "Maybe the agents mistook the signature for a mere child after all."

The hedgehog bent a knee beside her. He saw there were signs that she was still alive.

"Hey." He called sharply and loud enough to make her ears flicker.

"Huh?" As soon as she opened her eyes, she gasped at the sight of the two, and rushed to her feet. "Waah! Don't pull me in, I can't swim!"

"She's the Chosen One." Said Shadow. J.J. felt confused, and scared.

"Hm. She doesn't look like the Chosen One to me. She's but a frail little thing."

J.J. opened her eyes wide, and understood that as a teasing comment from the female bat. She frowned then. "Okay, I certainly don't know any of you guys. I better get going."

"Not so fast, kiddo. You're coming with us." Said Rouge.

"Huh?"

Shadow paced just once. "The commander of the Guardian Units of Nations insists to speak with you about serious matters."

J.J. held her hands close to her face and felt worried... very. "Okay? Is it something bad I've done?"

"He just wants to ask a few questions is all. You don't need to be nervous." Said Rouge in the attempts to ease the rabbit girl.

The brooding hedgehog was to take her hand, but J.J. backed away.

"But I can't go now! I have to find my friends!"

"Where have they gone now?" Asked Shadow.

"It's Sonic, Tails and Infinite..." Shadow raised an eyebrow. Something he had suspected from her. "...some strange hole came out of nowhere and swallowed them whole!"

...

 _"I need help to rescue them!"_

In the while, down in the dark hole, Sonic, Tails and Infinite paced towards literally nowhere as it was difficult for them to see. The only light there was came from Tails' device.

"Man, things are running so slow right now, it's almost as if we were lost."

Infinite kicked a wall out of fury. "Agh! I can't take it anymore!"

Sonic rolled his eyes at how furious and negative the jackal was. "Dude, would you chill for at least five minutes?"

And then another rumbling. Lights started to flash around the three, revealing the place to be an underwater base.

"Great job, Infinite. Now we're stuck in yet another sticky situation."

The jackal pouted.

Just then, a large steel door slowly went down to block the way, and a loud alarm rang. Sonic reacted quick and helped Tails and Infinite pass through before it fully closed and all lights blacked out.

Shinier lights turned on, nearly blinding them. It was revealed that they entered a large hall with nothing but scraps and mechs.

"Guess this is Eggman's dumpster base." Said Sonic, who whistled in awe at how many robots the doctor had built but the hedgehog himself destroyed. "Wow. Sometimes I must feel proud of myself."

"Save your pride, hedgehog. We have to get out of here and make it to J.J." Infinite snapped.

Sonic quickly turned to the jackal. "Dude, seriously, what's with you and J.J.? Do you have feelings for her?"

"Is that an insult?!" The jackal felt offended in some way. "Because I don't take insults from anyone, much less yourself!"

A hidden camera spotted the three as they argued around the whole situation, and targeted them.

While the hedgehog and jackal kept their indistinct argument, Tails noticed movement on one of the mechs. "Uh... guys?"

"What?!" Both yelled together. But Sonic's eyes widened at what they saw.

The mechs he believed to be destroyed unexpectedly regained their power... with the power of the Dark Force.

...

Meanwhile, J.J. followed Shadow and Rouge as they made it to another location in the underground facility. The three traveled through a large tube, similar to an air vent.

"Are we too far from Infinite and the others?" Asked a worried J.J. Her voice resonated through the empty spaces. "I just wish to know if they're okay."

"We must find out whatever Eggman's plotting first." Said Shadow.

J.J. took an exasperated breath. "But, what about my friends?"

"Shh!" The brooding hedgehog shushed as he somehow heard something.

On a corner to their right was a hole which they could see through. The hedgehog peeked his eyes to see, and found out they were near a seemingly large lab, where Eggman used Dark Force energy for his works.

Shadow could see many large tanks filled with such dark liquid, and even saw machines, robots and Darkoids at work.

"What do you see?" J.J. asked again and peeked. But when she saw it all she couldn't help but gasp loudly. It was so loud it made the Darkoids notice.

Then everything went silent as the three hid back, Shadow holding a hand on J.J.'s mouth to prevent her from speaking. The poor girl breathed rapidly.

The Darkoids stood near the air vents and began smashing their claws on them, causing some impact.

"Move, now!" Shadow commanded.

The Darkoids kept smashing while the three attempted to escape. But one of them broke through and found the latter, letting out a shriek similar to the ones J.J. heard on her mind last time.

"Aah!" She cried as the three faced the monsters.

There was no way they could escape without a fight.


	10. Blue Elite Stone of Serenity

The Darkoids finally broke into the air vent, blocking the heroes' way and letting out horrendous shrieks. J.J. had to hide behind the brooding hedgehog as fear struck her mind once more. She couldn't look at the monsters' eyes.

"Please tell me we're not fighting those blobs." Said Rouge.

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but it looks like we won't get away without a fight." Shadow stood on his battle stance without any kind of fear.

The chief Darkoid shrieked as a command to attack them, and the others followed its command. The next thing the heroes knew, they were entirely surrounded, but that never stopped them.

The black hedgehog skidded his way at the beasts and took a good jump, then charged a spin attack and destroyed them one by one with a single blow.

"Take that!" Shouted Rouge after landing a spinning kick.

J.J. had no absolute focus, so she just protected herself with a force field. She eventually got surrounded by more and more Darkoids as they attempted to break the force field with their claws like zombies. But J.J. knew this effect couldn't last long.

 _Meanwhile..._

"What?! How dare you treat my Darkoids as mere slaves?!"

In the while, back on the primary base for the Eggman Empire, Orbot and Cubot sneaked into the throne room.

"They're not slaves!" Eggman snapped like a child. "They're just... uh... hired on the Eggman Empire! They've got the best jobs around all of my facilities."

Cubot hit its head with one of the fat man's legs, with Orbot following behind.

"Whatever you do to my pets is unacceptable! Each have a unique and special power, and they must NOT be mistreated like that!"

"Boss?" Orbot called loud enough for both to hear.

Eggman stared at his minions sharply. "Don't you see I'm in the midst of a discussion?! What do you want?!"

Orbot cringed at his superior's anger, but then readjusted its composure. "Six life forms have been located at the underground disposal base in Emerald Coast, one of them particularly emitting a massive energy radiation."

The Black Sorceress chuckled, and didn't hesitate to wave her hand. In front of her appeared a dark orb similar to the one she used to watch over one of her powerful beasts. In the orb she first saw Sonic, Tails and Infinite cornered in a circle of revived robots, then the image transitioned to Shadow, Rouge and J.J. fighting the Darkoids. Shadow threw a round Chaos Blast at the Darkoids that surrounded J.J., and the force field was undone.

"Well well, if it isn't the Chosen One and her friends. Oh, it's a shame I won't be there to watch them being devoured."

"Can those things eat people?" A somewhat "brainless" Cubot asked. Orbot face palmed. Eggman also face palmed.

"You tin cans have _no_ idea what my Darkoids are capable of!" Said the Black Sorceress as she stood from her throne. "One scream can strike fear to their victims' heart, and just one look of their eyes can induce pain!"

Cubot hugged Orbot as if it was scared. Or at least its programming recognizes fear itself.

...

Back in the large air vent, J.J. blasted one of the Darkoids with her Powers and another nearly dug its claws on her, but Shadow appeared behind her and threw a Chaos Spear at it.

 _"This has already happened to that puny Chosen One. With every scream her sanity dies, and her Powers become completely useless!"_

The poor rabbit's body shook. She had completely lost it as more and more beasts got in her way.

 _"That alone is primordial for my plan!"_

...

"Ahem!" Eggman faked a cough. "I think you mean _our_ plan?"

The old lady rolled her eyes, annoyed. "Ugh. I have forgotten how our alliance is still in effect." She muttered. "A new ton of Dark Force energy has already been dispatched to the disposal base. Expect massive rebuilding in less than three days, doctor."

Eggman held a blank expression. "So, that's it?"

"Is there something more you'd like?" The witch asked in a literal way to get rid of him.

"N-no, your eminence." That was a lie. He knew he wanted more. "In any case, I must be off to work on the "original" plan. I bet even _you_ will be surprised."

" _Don't_ disappoint me."

As soon as the doors closed, Eggman walked away with a grin on his face.

"Boss..." Orbot interjected. "Are you still following the mistress' plan?"

Eggman stopped and glared down at his underling. "Do I look like I am?"

"Uh..." Cubot rubbed its "chin", thinking.

"I'll show that old rotten lady who's got the REAL master plan!"

"It's the E.G.G.M.A.N.!" Cubot cheered, but Orbot smaked the yellow robot. Yellow spinning stars could be seen above its head.

"And when I get rid of those punks, my next target will be her! The Eggman Empire will rise with brand NEW harnessed power! Mwahahaha- aah!" He clutched his stomach as a sudden pain overcame it. "I think I triggered that pulled muscle again!"

...

The female grinned as she sat back on her throne, her flowing cape following behind like a large wing. "Just how interesting this jackal would be?" She thought to herself before noticing something in the orb.

An image of J.J. struggling to fight back called her attention. She did felt inner fury for the destruction of her underlings, but she was more interested in the frightened Chosen. She slowly tapped her sharp nails on the armrests.

"Hm. So the child wants to play along." She then threw a commanding finger. "Cease her!"

...

"Aah!"

The beasts were too overwhelming for her. In less than a sscond they cornered her entirely and even jumped at her until she was nowhere to be seen, but at that same time, they got blasted and destroyed by a strong red energy from the brooding hedgehog. It was then revealed that J.J. laid on her side with a tiny bruise on her head.

Little did J.J. knew, however, that the Elite Stone of Serenity slipped and bounced off her hands and into the dark.

"Are you okay?" Shadow held her hand and helped her to her feet.

"Uh... thanks." J.J. blushed.

Rouge landed next to the two.

"So what now?" J.J. asked.

 _"This is HQ. I need status on the current mission."_ A female agent spoke from Rouge's commune.

"The energy signature has been located."

J.J. looked at her, wondering if they were talking about her Powers, but nervousness and worry hit her in the face.

"We have also been informed of an S.O.S. inside the underground facility. The being requests a search-and-rescue mission."

The device buzzed before the agent responded. _"Copy. We've detected three other life forms inside the main disposal area of the facility, located westbound."_

J.J.'s expression lit up. "That's Infinite and the others!"

"How far?" Shadow asked, taking the device from Rouge.

 _"Twenty minutes."_ The agent reported. _"You better hurry up, we're receiving signs of a potential damage in that area."_

J.J. gasped, fearing for the worse.

"Roger." Shadow handed the device to Rouge and walked. "Let's move."

"Uh... potential damage!?" J.J. nearly wheezed and clutched her chest. "Oh no... *pant* does this mean...?"

Shadow approached the girl. "Hey, if you want to save your friends you must put yourself together."

J.J. stared blankly at him.

"Now let's move before we're too late."

The two left. J.J. just stayed there for a minute before realizing something...

"The blue Stone!" She gasped and ran the opposite direction to find it, despite knowing that she'd be lost without her friends.

 _At the main disposal room..._

"Uh... S-Sonic?" Tails hid behind his best buddy. Like J.J. he was afraid of the revived robots. Each either crawled or walked at them with the remains of their parts and limbs. They almost reminded them of zombies.

"Stay calm, buddy. We're so beating these scraps back to where they came from."

Tails thought of the moment Sonic got beaten by Infinite many months ago. "Sonic? I've wanted to tell you something."

Sonic stared at Tails, but one of the junkers moved in at the hedgehog with a slash, but he deflected its attack with his hands and counter-attacked with a spin dash, landing beside the yellow fox.

"I'm listening, buddy. Just need to get these junk faces out of my way." He leaped and attacked his adversaries while Tails just watched.

"Uh... about what happened before... I felt like a coward. But this time I'll be ready when you need me!"

The blue hedgehog landed in front of the boy. "Don't be hard on yourself, Tails. You did what you had to do, so don't worry."

The two were distracted by two other incoming robots, and braced on when they realized they were going to be attacked.

Fortunately for them, Infinite stood in front of them, jumped at the robots and sliced them in half with just one move of his sword.

"Yargh!"

He landed heroically as the robots exploded. Sonic and Tails' eyes widened.

The black jackal turned to them with sharp eyes. "Would you two shut up and fight?! There's someone we need to meet up with!"

"Yeah, yeah, love bird." Sonic teased. "Let's beat these junkheads!"

Infinite frowned, but still stood in a circle with Sonic and Tails as more and more robots surrounded them. Sonic tapped the tip of his shoes to the ground, Tails clutched his fists and Infinite growled, grasping his sword tightly.

One of the robots with a large mouth bawled, announcing the start of that fight.

Sonic took a great jump in the air and stretched his arms, later rolling in a ball and charging a spin attack that destroyed ten robots in a row. The quickster made a safe landing and boosted at a dozen more.

A robot armed with blades for arms slashed at Tails, but he flew out of its way to avoid the attack. He then looked behind his shoulder, seeing one more broken robot coming at him. He gasped and dove to the ground, making the robots destroy each other. A third one came at him, but he reacted just in time and grabbed its metallic arm, then spun as hard as he could and threw it at several other living scraps, destroying them instantly.

"Yeah!" He landed and pumped a fist to the air.

Infinite landed in front of him, defending him from a larger robot. "Don't get too confident, kid!" He landed a spinning hook kick at the robot. The robot, however, fought back and threw its large arm at Infinite, but he bent backwards. Sonic interfered and stomp-attacked the robot.

"We can't let these things outnumber us!" He said.

"Then we must find a weakness..." Infinite stabbed another robot from behind without even looking. "...right now!"

Tails looked up only to find a dark purple orb, and an exit.

"Up there! That's the source of their power!"

Both Sonic and Infinite also saw it, but were quickly covered in a mountain of robots without having the chance to fight back.

...

 _BOOM!_

Out in the deep ocean, the northbound corner of the facility began erupting in flames.

...

Shadow and Rouge flew past the many halls before receiving a warning call from the GUN agent.

 _"The facility's self-destruction decoy has been armed! Find the three and escape as soon as possible!"_

"Got it!" Shadow responded.

Another explosion stopped them as the grounds shook. In front of them they noticed a light coming from under the metal floors.

...

Inside the mountain of robots, the metal scraps attempted to scratch their faces off, but each tried to defend themselves from them.

"Sonic!" Tails yelled.

Infinite held his sword with both hands and pushed the robots' claws off his face.

"Tails?!"

It was not long afterwards that they got covered in a red gleam of light that expanded and exploded, ridding off every single robot there. When the light died down, it revealed Shadow and Rouge in front of them.

Infinite proceeded to destroy the orb by throwing his sword like a spear to the rooftop. It succeeded in tearing it in half, and the accumulated energy spread out and disappeared. The jackal caught his sword as it fell back down.

"And of all places, I find you here." Said Shadow, turning to Sonic.

"Hey, man. How's it going?" Sonic said as usual.

Tails looked around, noticing something. "Hey, where's J.J.?" The sound of that question made Infinite's ears perk up.

"Huh?!" He instantly believed Shadow took her like Espio did. He took the brooding hedgehog by his arms and banged him against a wall. "What have you done to her?!"

But then a flashing image struck his mind as he stared into Shadow's bloody red eyes.

 _"Why do I feel like I know this guy?"_

Shadow fought back and pushed the jackal away. The jackal avoided a fall by skidding to a stop. "I don't have the intention to start a new fight."

 _BOOM!_

All lights turned red and the grounds below their feet shook harder.

"We have to go! This facility has set a self-destruction decoy, and it's still in effect!" Exclaimed Rouge.

Infinite stepped forward. "No! We're NOT leaving until we find J.J.!"

The device they used suddenly buzzed up.

 _"HQ to Team Dark! We have a code red just ahead! Find out what's going on out there!"_

Rouge was the first to fly out. Then the four jumped out as well.

...

Lone feathers touched the ground in front of the evil lady's throne. The orb she just summoned disappeared.

"No! How could they lose to those mere children?!" She shouted.

But yet another orb appeared, revealing the image of a running J.J., and the Black Sorceress sensed the heat source of an Elite Stone close to her location.

...

The lone rabbit's footsteps echoed in that hall. She stopped once she spotted the faintly blue light from the Elite Stone of Serenity.

"I found it!" She quickly took it in her hand and inspected it.

...

The Black Sorceress spread her hands to the sides of the orb as if she held a crystal ball of fortune.

"Hahahahaha! Perfect! Now the Chosen One AND the blue Stone will fall on my control!" She grinned, her big, fanged teeth somehow making her look even creepier.

From her fingers spread a black energy that entered the orb as she casted a spell.

" _I faraz zaras, ai zaraq. I faraz zaras, ai zaraq_." Her eyes glowed red as rubies. "My minions, capture that Chosen. Bring me the Stone!"

...

Surrounding J.J. appeared about eight rings of glowing dark purple energy. Larger Darkoids depicted as giant worms slowly emerged from each ring.

"Huh? Uh... uh...?" The rabbit shivered, holding her hands to her heart and feeling it racing.

The Darkoids opened their poppy red eyes to the girl and kept a tilted stare at her. Then they shrieked loudly.

"AAAAAH!"

In a split second, Sonic and Shadow spin-attacked at least five of the Darkoids while Infinite finished the other three with a slice of his sword. The three heroically landed around the scared rabbit, forming a circle around her. Tails and Rouge soon came to the scene as well.

Infinite raised her head by her chin with his hand, making her look into his heterochromatic eyes. "Huh?"

"Infinite!" The rabbit girl excitedly pounced at the jackal after a second of recognizing him. "Oh, thank goodness! I though something happened to you, and..." Her sentimentality made her break off into a cry, and literally dropped waterfalls for tears.

Infinite, as usual, rolled his eyes, almost not showing any kind of emotion. "Augh, come on. It's not like we died or anything."

...

"Argh! I've had enough of this!" The sorceress shouted and transferred more dark energy to the base, increasing its chance of destruction.

" _Sub basi cingitur fluctibus extingui... sub basi cingitur fluctibus... extingui_!" She chanted.

...

 _BOOM!_

The next thing they all knew, the floors below them began collecting a large amount of water which leveled up every second.

"Run!" Sonic yelled, but the doors for them got jammed by the falling objects near them.

"We're too late! The water's rising fast!" J.J. cried.

The heroes held on to themselves as the water rose at a quick rate until they were able to touch the ceiling.

J.J. held Infinite's hand, and the jackal gave her a glance. Soon, the heroes took a deep breath as the waters reached the ceiling.

They could hear the faint sounds of explosions getting closer and closer, and there was nothing any of them could do to escape.

Suddenly, J.J. felt her oxygen level depriving, and swam up to the ceiling but couldn't find a surface to lift her head and breathe, so she panicked. Infinite pulled her close and pushed his mouth against hers, passing all of his breath to her, but consequently lost consciousness because of this.

J.J. tried to scream, but doing so would make her lose her breath. The jackal had already lost his, and the rabbit grasped him, shutting her eyes and focusing on a way out. The blue Stone placed itself on a hole in her Medallion, erupting a slight burst of light magical energy around her.

In a split second, a magic ring appeared beneath them, and it slowly sucked them in, and immediately brought them to the shore they once were. They all softly fell to the sand and coughed all the water out.

"Man, now my wings feel heavy." Said Rouge as she flapped the water and sand off her wings.

Despite his heavy weight, J.J. was able to lay him on the sand and use her CPR skills she earned while with the Resistance to revive the jackal.

"Infinite... Infinite!" She repeatedly pushed fast and hard on his chest, then did mouth-to-mouth to restore his breath. Though for a second her very heart raced for a reason.

"Gah! Ah..." The jackal caught his breath back and panted heavily, spitting some water. He saw the rabbit next to him, knees bent on the sand and a serious look in her sharp brown eyes. "A little mermaid rescued me."* He smiled cockily.

J.J. grasped his hand strongly and helped him to his feet in a somewhat reluctant way while the jackal kept a grin on his face. "Don't... EVER... take me to beaches again! I HATE water because of this!"

Everyone soon heard a laugh from Sonic. "Looks like we have something in common, huh, J.?"

When the rabbit girl shook her fur to dry it up, it just fuzzed, and it angered her.

"Ugh! That's it! I'm done!" She threw her arms and stomped away, passing by Sonic and Shadow.

"Infinite, can you tell her to chill?"

"Trust me on this one, hedgehog. I can't control her when she's angry. Though all I can say is she looks cute that way." He said and walked to catch up with the rabbit.

Shadow and Rouge decided to part ways, and only Sonic and Tails were left.

"Are you okay, Sonic?" Tails asked.

"Me?" Sonic laughed. "I feel better knowing that everyone's okay. Let's go, I'm hungry for some chilidogs."

And off they parted from the seas of the Emerald Coast.

...

Meanwhile, back at Eggman's base, the doctor formulated a decoy that would trigger the Phantom Ruby that J.J. found. He had invented it using a computer and a ton of Dark Force energy from his ally.

"Hehehe... your time is over, Infinite!" He pushed a button afterwards.

The ruby in J.J.'s pocket began to glow.

 _At GUN HQ..._

The Commander stared out the glass window, wondering how his best team was doing.

The female agent responsible for their communication entered his office to make a report.

"The mission has been accomplished, sir. The team will return shortly."

The Commander turned to the agent. "Finally."

Shortly afterwards, Shadow and Rouge entered the office as well and saluted the Commander.

"Shadow, Rouge, I have never felt so relieved to have you back."

"With due respect, Commander..." Shadow spoke. "...there's something I'd like to discuss with you privately."

The agent left and shut the door for them, allowing them to start their private discussion.

* * *

 **A/N: AT LONG FREAKING LAST!**

 ***a reference to The Little Mermaid xD**

 **What do you think? Was it good? Tell me in your reviews!**


	11. Dreams And Illusions

One night, the blue hedgehog witnessed an unpleasant sleep. His body stirred around the bed, sleepy groans following along. In his dreams he could see the silhouette of a tall, dark figure. Nothing about it was ever revealed. Nothing but an eerie whisper.

Another groan, and the hedgehog snaps awake, sitting up. He afterwards held his head. Tails soon noticed and got up to help.

"Are you okay, Sonic?"

The hedgehog gave his friend a brief look. "Yeah. Just some bad dream. Nothin' to worry about." He winked at him.

"What _was_ it about?" The fox wanted to know more.

"I dunno', man. Some crazy faceless people trying to scare me. Heh. That whole Eggman Empire-Resistance war must have made me grow some anxiety."

"That's strange. That happened many months ago, and concluded with Eggman's defeat."

"Yeah, but this time there's something odd about Eggman." Sonic laid back down, stretching his arms to the back of his head. "He's still fighting, but he has little power, and those gooey slime monsters are one more weight on our backs. Him and those things going after our friends is kind of weird. I mean, what would they _want_ from them?"

Tails jumped to the bed and sat next to his buddy. "Wish I could figure that out."

Again, Sonic looked at his buddy and smiled. "Hey, chill. We'll get to that, like we always do."

The fox stared at the ceiling. "I'd give all for a nap in Green Hill zone right now."

Sonic sighed, a cute smile still on his face. "Yeah. Wish that dream was about chilidogs too."

Tails giggled.

Soon both fell asleep, and the moon began falling...

 _At J.J.'s apartment, the day after..._

The sun shimmered in the late morning skies, and birds chanted a harmonious melody. Everything seemed normal in the city, as if no Badniks attacked or any evil scheme ever happened.

The slender jackal stretched his arms, ready to start that day with a right foot. He almost let out a tiny whimper (A/N: like when dogs yawn) as he stretched his tiny body. Getting out of his blankets and standing from his cozy bed, he went to J.J.'s side He looked at the time, and realized it was almost noon.

Infinite's eyes glanced at the girl in her sleep, and saw as she took every breath. He narrowed his eyes down, but shook his head and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Wake up, sloth." He shook her. After a few minutes, he understood that she'd prank him with a scare, something she sometimes did to amuse herself. The jackal hated it.

Infinite shook her again. "Don't come with your stupid scare jokes around me. Wake up."

Again, no response from the girl. She didn't even move.

"J.J., get up!"

His first thought was fear, and his eyes shrank. He then dug his large ear to her chest, but her system was as if there was nothing wrong. She was just as fine, but didn't seem to wake.

The jackal held his commune and contacted the only people he knew.

"Get over here, NOW!"

 _Later..._

The Miles Electric scanned the Medallion for any malfunctions that could possibly affect its host.

"I don't know what's gotten into her, but she won't get up."

Tails pushed a few buttons on his device. "That's funny. The Powers are not emitting any more energy radiation. It's almost as if something flicked them off like a switch."

"Has this happened before?" Asked Sonic.

"If I knew anything you'd never believe me." Infinite answered almost coldly.

"Why is it that you jackals always have a cold shoulder?" Sonic responded back.

Infinite confronted Sonic with a clutched fist. "It's the same as YOU hedgehogs have spines on your brains!"

The device suddenly beeped repeatedly, calling their attention.

"Sonic, this is bad! There's a large energy signature that equals that of a Phantom Ruby! It's messing with my readings!"

"What?!"

The jackal noted a growing magenta light under J.J.'s bed. As expected, he found the ruby they spoke of, and showed it to the heroes, though he just stood there grasping and looking at it.

Sonic raised a brow. "How could someone like J.J. get her hands on that?"

"I have a better question, what the heck is this and why is it with her?!" Infinite shook his hand holding the ruby.

Tails acted odd for a second. He fully recognized the ruby as the jackal's former source of power, but he never knew about what happened to him afterwards. "Sonic, doesn't he...?"

The blue hedgehog had a small flashback to the moment he met the former villain, unmasked.

 _"Wait a second! You're friends with the guy who tortured me for six months?!"_

 _"Heh. Like I'd remember anything like that."_

...

"I'm afraid so, buddy." Sonic muttered.

The fox looked at the jackal with the corner of his eye before fully turning to him. "Infinite, do you know who I am?"

"I barely see you every day. Why is that so important?!" The jackal pouted.

"Never mind." Tails sighed. "If we only had access to the Powers we could see what's with her, but the ruby's not letting me see anything."

The hedgehog gave his buddy the best support possible. "Just do what you can, buddy. We'll still be able to solve this, one way or another."

"Well, you better." Said Infinite. "Because if we lose J.J., both of you are to blame."

Sonic rolled his eyes at him. "Just ignore him." He muttered to Tails, but he seemed to pay no heed.

Tails grew a feeling of worry. "Uh oh. Sonic?"

The blue hedgehog leaned beside the fox to see. "What is it?"

"These signatures aren't the same as the last time I scanned-"

Almost as if it knew, the ruby soon resonated, creating a distortion around the heroes, and a bright light blinded the area. Once the light faded, Tails saw that Sonic and Infinite disappeared, and the ruby fell next to J.J. in the bed. Tails gasped.

"Uh... guys?!"

 _WHAM!_

The same light brought them to the inner world of the Phantom Ruby, a dark, null space with nothing but pixels and firewalls that constantly changed in shape and form.

Infinite looked around. "What the heck?"

"This must be the virtual world inside the ruby." Sonic walked, gazing around the virtual room. "It's all... distorting. It's like it's playing with my head!"

"You don't say."

Suddenly, all matter that chaged disappeared. There was but the pixelated floor and the empty space.

"Sonic, can you hear me?" They both heard Tails's voice.

"Tails?"

"I've equipped a special device so I could be able to hear you guys. I finally figured out that the ruby's linked with J.J.'s body, so I can communicate with you through her. This one's different than the other prototypes. Its energy can be disrupted for a brief period, though there might still be frequent interferences, so I can't make any promises."

"Well, we can't waste our time!" Said Infinite.

Right afterwards, the shape-shifting matter began appearing once more.

"Tails?!" Sonic called, but received no response.

"Let's go!" Infinite called. Sonic just nodded and followed the jackal.

Both traveled through many halls that changed their course every few seconds, something they considered worse than a labyrinth. This brought the jackal to a mild level of insanity that he ended up slicing those changing materials with his sword. But it all ended when they came across a darker hall.

Walking past it, Sonic and Infinite heard the resonating sound of a fast, rhythmic thump, and stopped on their tracks.

Infinite's ears perked up. "A heartbeat. It's hers! Does this mean she's trapped inside this thing?"

"She must be terrified." Sonic said, somehow sensing what would be fear from J.J.'s trapped soul.

"Sonic, can you hear me? The Powers are stuck inside the Phantom Ruby's matrix! You're heading right for it!"

"Then that's where she is!"

"Run while you get the chance! It'll take five minutes for its energy to come back up!"

Without hesitation, both took a good run, but a familiar whisper stopped them.

"Uh... did you hear that?" Sonic asked.

"Not a thing. Now let's move!" Responded Infinite.

"Right." The hedgehog was to dash, but a skeletic hand stopped him, and a cloaked figure looked into his eyes, bringing back the vision he had the night before. The hedgehog's eyes shrank as he saw that the figure in a black cloak he once saw in his dreams had no face, and was whispering eerily to his ears.

But the creature was virtually destroyed by Infinite's sword.

"Are you deaf? I said let's move!"

Sonic held his head. "Rrgh."

Infinite threw his arms down. "Now what?"

The hedgehog shook his head. "Nothin'. Let's go get J.J." He said and run.

The two were soon encountered with a gigantic red cube that stood by the end of that hall. Inside was J.J. Her human body floated inside the cube, and she was not conscious.

Infinite got closer and banged his fists at the cube. "J.J.!" He gritted his teeth.

The cube glitched as an effect of the hit. Infinite could see the girl struggling to stir and wake, but every glitch brought her down to her sleep. He banged again and again, but his fists alone did nothing, so he took a good grasp on his sword and sliced through the hard texture of the cube, which was similar to that of the gemstone itself.

His sword was effective, in fact, that with every slice the cube began tearing apart. And as it did so, a light emerged until everything around them turned white.

...

Back in the real world, Tails saw that the disruptive signatures faded, and a signature began rising. Soon, a light blinded the scene, then faded, revealing Sonic and Infinite.

"Nice job, Sonic! Now I'm able to read the radiation signature."

"Still asleep?"

"Yes, but she'll be up in no time."

Just as he finished, J.J. began to stir and moan. "Hm...?" She opened her eyes to the three. Infinite placed a hand near her head on her large pillow.

"Hey there. You okay?" Asked Sonic kindly.

J.J. sat up and clutched her head. "Oh. I had a crazy dream. Some kind of people in dark cloaks... Ah, my head...!" When she looked up, she took note of her friend, who crossed his arms at her. "Infinite?" She tilted her head.

"You and I need to talk. Alone." He frowned at both Tails and Sonic, who nervously smiled.

"Well, I guess it's time for us to go, huh, Sonic?" Said Tails, nudging the hedgehog.

"Uh, yeah. Catch ya' later, J.!"

"Thanks for everything." J.J. replied.

Sonic waved cowboy-style and walked out of the apartment with his best buddy. Once the door shut closed the jackal clutched his fists. J.J. jumped out her bed and changed to her rabbit form.

"Infy, what's wrong?" She asked worriedly and touched his shoulders. She felt scared then, because he was shaking. And she knew what would happen when he behaved like that.

"J.J., why didn't you told me about this?!" He growled, not looking at the girl.

J.J. raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Huh? About what?"

The jackal finally turned to her and slightly pushed her back from her shoulder with his index finger. "Don't make me look like a fool, kid! What is this?!" He showed her the ruby.

J.J. remembered. She found it once and wanted to keep it from him for a reason. Her entire body began shaking. "I-Infinite, listen. I wanted to tell you, but-"

"NO! Before we became friends we promised to keep NO SECRETS from each other! And you broke that promise!"

"Infinite, please listen-!"

The jackal violently pushed the poor rabbit back, not wanting to hear any more words from her. The girl hit her bed and fell on her knees next to its edge.

"I've listened enough, kid. And all I've heard from you was nothing but lies. I should've thought twice before counting on you."

J.J. gasped. Her heart sank deep at his words.

"Infinite..." She got up, wanting to hold his hand, but he snatched it off naughtily.

"Don't touch me! I'm sure your parents would've taught you manners if they could."

J.J.'s eyes shrank and her heart sank deep. Infinite had no idea of what became of her parents. She began to sob.

"H-how could you say such words... to me?" She whimpered. "Do you even know me well?"

The jackal gazed at her confused. "What?"

The girl held his shoulders and shook him violently. "Do you KNOW what became of my parents?! Do you know the name of the bastard who KILLED them?!"

For a moment the jackal felt a sense of fear and regret as he became aware of his actions. He sighed, some coldness still remained in his heart despite that.

"Goodbye, J.J." The jackal turned his back to her and walked, but J.J. grasped his shoulder to stop him.

"Infinite! No! You can't leave me-!" She cried. Her attempt was in vain as he dropped her reluctantly and walked out the door, leaving the poor rabbit on her knees.

"INFINITE! COME BACK!" The jackal heard her faint shouts after having slammed the door. He tried to ignore her cries, but shut his eyes and gritted his teeth as he walked away, feeling the same pain she felt.

And for the first time in months... he felt weak on the inside.

...

Inside, the rabbit threw her fists to her bed and a rain of tears, followed by a pained cry.

...

The image of Infinite walking away could be seen from the witch's orb. Eggman relished over such scene.

"How about that for a start, huh, mistress?"

"To you it's your imperial eminence." Said a cold Black Sorceress. "But I must admit the effectiveness of your plan. Now we must make sure they both don't see each other again, but since I'm new to this repulsive world, I will leave that task entirely to you."

The evil doctor rubbed his hands and grinned. "And I've got just the plan to get rid of that pipsqueak..." He muttered.


	12. Fall

On that beautiful, falling afternoon, hours after their solved problem, Sonic and Tails took a nice lounge in a wide open park of Station Square, the hedgehog holding the blue Stone of Serenity with his index and thumb. He often played with it, too, tossing it up and down in the air.

"Man, sometimes I feel amazed at what these little things can do. I mean, it's not every day that you get to chill like this."

"Undoubtedly." Said Tails. He soon spotted a snack cart and a human merchant who sold his best friend's favorite food. A smile brightened his face.

"Hey, Sonic. Wanna' catch some chili dogs at that cart?"

Sonic opened an eye and noticed the snack cart as well. He quickly got up to his feet. "Man, I'd be pleased! But we've got to invite our buddies too."

Tails nodded. Looking around again, he spotted a lonely rabbit strolling around. "Hey look, there's J.J.!"

From the distance, the rabbit walked slowly, her head staring at the ground and her fallen ears nearly touching her face.

The blue quickster skidded in front of her and greeted her with open arms and a seemingly adorable smile. "Hey, J. How 'bout we-"

"Maybe later." The rabbit responded sadly, nearly whispering.

Sonic slowly dropped his arms and also his smile, sensing a wave of bad energy coming from her. He stood in front of her again, and looked at her worriedly.

"Are you okay? You don't look like yourself."

J.J. touched the hedgehog's shoulder. "I just want to be alone. Sorry." She shut her eyes, held a whimper and walked away.

Tails approached the hedgehog in confusion. "What just happened?"

Sonic crossed his arms. "Beats me. But that ain't the J.J. we know."

The two kept watching as the sorrowful rabbit left them, and couldn't do anything to stop her.

 _Moments later..._

Tails's biplane flew past the Chemical plant, and Sonic and J.J. landed by its bay, where the Sixth Stone had been located. They saw an open field surrounded by piles, aircraft, and nuclear factories.

J.J. noticed her Medallion began to shimmer, but didn't showed much impression.

"I guess we're close." She said.

But she watched as Sonic stretched his legs. "Great! Which means we're one step forward to stop Egghead and those slimes."

J.J. sighed. "Right."

The hedgehog stood up. "May I?" He extended his hand for J.J. to hold. She held out her hand, but then hesitated as her mind raced over her memories with Infinite, and the awful things he had told her. She withdrew her hand from his then. Soic tilted his head, confused.

"I-I can't." She sighed and narrowed her eyes down.

"Huh?"

Little did both knew, a target afar locked its aim on them.

"Without Infinite..." She whimpered, allowing her tears to drop off her eyes. "...I'm nothing!"

Sonic held her hand. "You'll have to excuse me, J., but we can't lose our heads right now. There's a Stone we need to catch."

Her ears perked up at the sound of a tiny explosion, that of when a weapon opens fire. She looked up to her right and noticed a light falling from the sky.

"Huh? Whatcha lookin' at?" Sonic also looked, but as his eyes kept staring, he notice it as a missile, and scooped the rabbit on his arms before jumping out of the way.

As they landed, they saw the crashed missile opening up, revealing robots and Darkoids. J.J. backed away, but the hedgehog supported her as they confronted the minions.

Within a moment's thought, the enemies began coming in like a flood towards their hostiles. Sonic and J.J. got into a fighting stance, and the rabbit charged the hedgehog with her Powers. He rolled in a ball and dashed at them, a trail of gold energy following behind. Their combined attack proved successful as they were able to destroy them in a second.

"Yes!" Sonic cheered, but not even that made J.J. smile. Instead, she still felt sad.

...

"Your days of cheering are over, you horrid hedgehog." Said Eggman, who watched them from his computers. He grinned, pressing a large, red button with a skull insignia on it.

...

Back out in the bay, a black missile flew up and towards the heroes. The two were busy enough fighting robots and Darkoids, when J.J.'s senses began to sharpen.

"Look out!"

She used a slight blast attack to drive Sonic out of the way. The hedgehog, still rolling in a ball, bounceď towards the opposote direction, and skid-landed on all fours while J.J. built enough power to charge at the missile. She drew her hand back, then charged a glowing fist just as the missile flew closer and closer until her punch made impact with its matter, destroying it, but also spreading green smoke around her. She coughed, it had a mix of terrible smells, which disgusted her.

...

The villain threw his hands at the table. "NOT THAT PIPSQUEAK! I WAS AIMING FOR THAT BLUE NUISANCE!"

...

Sonic dashed past her. "J.?" He touched her shoulders.

J.J. looked at him. "I'm fine. But..." Her Medallion shimmered strongly. She gasped. "The Stone! It's straight ahead!"

Before both could make a move, another explosion shattered the grounds about 10 feet in front of them, which also caused the Stone to fall to the depths of the pit.

"Dang!" He hissed. But it was far from over.

The grounds beneath them shook, the hole in front of them began expanding, shattering its surroundings.

"No! We have to go get it!" J.J. was about to run for it, but Sonic stopped her.

"Sorry, J., but we have no choice right now."

"Sonic, if we don't get this Stone it might fall on Eggman's hands!"

Their talk was cut off as the shattering got closer to their position. Without any more words, the hedgehog scooped the rabbit in his arms and took a good leap back on the nick of time. The grounds kept tearing themselves apart more and more as they raced for the exit. As a consequence, the aircraft and all their surroundings fell into the large pit and collided on one another, exploding in the process.

Such was it that an even larger explosion caused a shockwave that brought the two heroes back to the outskirts of the plant. Fortunately the hedgehog took a good land on the pale sands and set his friend down to her feet. He watched as a large cloud of fire and smoke formed in the sky, far from where they were.

"Oh man..." He said in frustration.

The hedgehog heard faint coughs coming from his friend. He noticed her swaying and losing balance and quickly went to her aid before she could collapse.

"J.J.?! What's wrong?!"

The rabbit's ears fell as well as her eyes. "I-I don't... feel so good... cough, cough!"

The blue hero scooped her and dashed towards a tree, and set her down.

"Stay with me, J. I'll get Tails!"

 _"Sonic, what happened?! The whole place exploded!"_ Tails called from the hedgehog's earpiece.

"No time for that, Tails! We need you here, now!"

 _"Hold on, I'm close to the outskirts!"_

But J.J.'s body couldn't fight her weakness. Her symptoms were so strong that not even her Powers could protect her, much to the hedgehog's horror. She slowly began to black out. The hedgehog reached out to her, but she was already falling unconscious.

"J.? J.?!"

Everything turned black.

...

 _At J.J.'s apartment..._

A male doctor, a lynx, examined J.J.'s racing heartbeat while she panted. Sweat beaded her entire face as a high fever made her feel uncomfortable. The doctor used the necessary equipment for her care and for his own protection, wearing a thick suit to prevent further contagion.

J.J.'s bed was surrounded by plastic drapes. And due to her weakness, the Powers forced her back to her human form.

"It appears your friend has suffered severe pollution. Her defenses are fighting her disease, but I'm afraid it won't be enough. She needs immediate reinforcements on her immunity, and for that I'll dispatch a full antibiotic treatment to fight the disease."

"Thanks, doc. We'll be sure to keep our eyes on her." Said Sonic.

The medic left a large package with the treatment and picked his equipment. "I also suggest you stay away as much as possible. The pollution might spread if you get too close. Anyway, just let me know if anything else happens."

"We sure will." Said Tails.

The doctor nodded and walked out the door.

"How could this happen?" The fox asked.

Sonic took a moment to think. On the moment she defended him from the missile, he saw as she destroyed it with her power, but also took note of the gas that spread around her. It was after that moment that he went to her side to check on her.

He sighed and frowned. "Eggman. That's what happened."

"She saved you, didn't she?" Tails asked again, worriedly.

Both looked at their friend. Sonic's heart couldn't resist the anger he felt, and he clutched a fist, but he afterwards took a deep breath to calm himself.

"Have you talked to Infinite? I haven't seen the guy anywhere."

"Me neither. I haven't even been able to track his device, but he's got to know what happened to her."

"You do that."

The poor girl stirred and moaned, feeling an unbearable pain, which also kept her from her comfort.

She turned to her left side and glanced at the hedgehog with a pant. He knew by the look of her eyes how much pain she felt.

"Hang in there, buddy. We'll save you."

Elsewhere...

In a dark environment, a pair of delicate footsteps echoed, approaching the spot where the Sixth Stone had landed. A female's pale hand grasped it and took it away.

 _"One down... six to go."_

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry if this chapter was wayyyy too rushed and short. I just wanted to make another update in such short time. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this short chapter. I'll catch you guys on the next one! :)**


	13. Cyan Elite Stone of Sensitivity

That golden afternoon slowly succumbed into a gray evening, just as if the skies above knew there was something wrong in our heroes' lives.

One particular jackal strolled around a sidewalk, the rain not truly bothering him as he bowed his head. Despite his amnesiac state, he could remember what he did to his only friend.

Images and sounds of her crying and begging him to not leave flashed on the top of his mind. The jackal stopped, such images made him become weak. He felt a wave of regret as he felt his tiny heart sinking down on a literal pit of darkness.

He sighed. "I can't believe this right now..."

He looked down at his hand. It was shaking. He clutched it into a fist to make it stop, but it wouldn't budge.

"Heh, guess my actions are backfiring. That's why I feel so... weak. And why do I hate it?"

He clutched his fist once more, but it still shook wildly. He hit it against a pole out of anger.

"Agh! I'm a bastard!"

He soon heard buzzing from his earpiece, but he wasn't expecting any calls.

 _"Infinite! Finally! I wasn't able to track you for the past few hours. Where are you?"_ Tails' voice of relief said through the device.

"Leave me alone, kid. I've had enough problems today." He was to take his earpiece off and throw it away before Tails spoke up.

 _"We're going through some serious trouble right now, about J.J. I thought it was best that we told you."_

"I don't have the slightest reason to care for her! She lied to me!" He yelled and threw his device off.

 _"You have to listen to me! She's ver-!"_

The jackal stomped on the device, shattering it. He gave it a slight look before walking away, but he regretted it as he experienced something never seen before...

A faint white light appeared a few feet in front of him and slowly approached him. The light soon revealed two limbs, one on each side. The jackal tilted his head at it. The tiny creature spun around him before landing softly on his hands. Infinite held it close. He could describe it as a little dot of light surrounded by white smoke.

"What are you...? Ah!" He gasped. Once again, visions of J.J. formed in his mind.

He could see her recent activity, and how she saved Sonic from the lethal missile. He could see from her point of view as she fell into darkness, all while Sonic called her.

 _"J.? J.?!"_

As the vision faded away, he gasped. The little creature also disappeared from his grasp. He looked at the device he just destroyed, and kneeled to it to try fixing it, but to no avail. He just held it on his hand, a feeling of terror swelling on his heart as his hands shook.

"Oh no, no, no..."

Without hesitation, the jackal ran and jumped from building to building in search for his friend.

...

A sharp fingernail rosed and roughly scraped through the crystal orb, later causing it to explode and shatter. The sharp-nailed hand clutched into a strong but slender fist, squeezing a fragment of the crystal into it.

A set of sharp, yellow teeth behind black lips, gritted. "Idiot..." Her voice hissed like a cobra.

From a distance, Orbot and Cubot watched behind the throne room's doors at how the villain they called "mistress" internally raged over the image in the now broken orb. Cubot gasped and "shivered" at the moment the lady broke the crystal orb.

Orbot, however, tried to keep its composure as it hovered towards the mistress.

"My apologies, Mistress, the boss requires your immediate presence at his diner."

"GET OUT!" She angrily threw a fist at the robot, and the silly thing floated away, scared.

She held a particularly cyan colored gem in her right hand, and rubbed it with her finger.

"Those little creatures won't matter once I gather all Elite Stones... But still, this "doctor"... he is to blame..."

The female walked into the darkness as the doors closed behind her.

...

"Infinite?" Tails shook his device a little, but all he heard was static. He sighed. "The signal's cut off."

Sonic threw his arms. "Dang."

They stopped doing what they were doing and turned to J.J., who groaned and cried in anguish, clutching her stomach. Sweat trickled her pale face, and tears of pain filled her eyes.

Sonic sighed, shaking his head, and looked aside. Seeing his friends suffer wasn't something he liked to see. The young fox took out her medication from the box the doctor provided and passed it through a hole in the curtain. The girl slowly sat up, took it with a shaky hand and placed it in her mouth, swallowing it. She then carefully laid back down and curled up, feeling soreness and discomfort.

"How's J.J. doing?" Sonic asked.

Tails bowed and shook his head sadly. "Not good. I hope the medication works, though."

"In...fini...te..." She mumbled in a shudder.

The hedgehog gave her one sad glance, knowing that she wouldn't be strong without her only friend. And acknowledging his absence just made things worse, despite the fact both him and Tails never knew the reason behind his departure.

But it was seconds later that the door slammed open, revealing a panting, soaked black jackal, whose heterochromic eyes shrank at the sight of J.J. behind the plastic curtains.

"J.J.!" He shouted and ran to her side, but Tails stopped him.

"You can't get too close. The pollution might spread."

"Pollution?!"

The jackal couldn't believe what his eyes saw. The one and only person he had been with for so long, and the one he has hurt, was now suffering.

He bowed his head and slowly walked towards a wall next to the kitchen, and leaned his hand against it. On that moment, J.J.'s pains eased at least to a point she could feel some comfort, although she could still feel some bearable pain. Her groans and cries died down to slow panting, and she tried to sleep.

"We tried to tell you what happened." Said Tails sadly. "She's very sick, contamined."

The jackal's hand on the wall tightened into a fist. "How?" He growled in a whisper.

"She saved Sonic in a battle, all while looking for the sixth Elite Stone at the Chemical Plant."

The fox and hedgehog were startled by a loud hit to the wall. "And all for one stupid gem. That bastard!"

"...I-Infinite."

The sound of her weak voice made his ears perk up, and the jackal could not resist going to her side.

"J.J., don't you dare move a limb! You're..." His voice began to break. "...you're..."

"Weak?" J.J. laughed faintly. "You said yourself, no weakness. Cough, cough!"

The jackal shut his eyes tight. His heart raced furiously. Despite her state, J.J. could notice how his eyes shrank.

"Infy..." She called. "...there is a way to cure me." The jackal's eyes quickly glared down at her.

"Tell me!" He demanded rather nicely, but still serious.

"The Stone..." Her breath shuddered. "...is the only way out." She held out a shaky hand to his face, though she couldn't touch him due to the platic curtains surrounding her. "Infinite... If I can't get through this, just know that I love you... very much." She sighed and moved her head, not feeling so well.

"Don't even think about it, kid! I won't let you down this time!"

The girl curled up again. Infinite tried to do something, but there was nothing he could do due to the pollution. All he could do is stare at his pained friend.

"Keep an eye on her, Tails. We'll take it from here." Said Sonic, who gripped Infinite's shoulder, beckoning him to follow. Tails just nodded, turning to the girl while Sonic and Infinite left.

 _At Eggman's base..._

Unlike any traditional dinner for two, the villains ate in silence, with Eggman enjoying a footlong vegetable sandwich, while his mysterious ally just glanced at a plain cooked fish and some spinach on her plate. A hood covered most of her face, except her glowing red eyes and her ebony lips.

"Up for some wine, mistress?" Orbot appeared by her side and offered a cup of wine on a tray. The villainess reluctantly shove it off, letting it shatter on the ground. Orbot stared at it blankly, and hovered away.

Just as she was about to take the fork, she noticed three black feathers lying on her right side, next to the fork.

"You don't look too enthusiastic, mistress." Said Eggman, breaking the monotony. The red-eyed lady just glared with no actual impression. "That fish in your plate has been specially and delightfully prepared by the finest chefs, courtesy of the Eggman Empire. Deliciously combined with a tasty concoction of fine spices and flavorfulness. But anyway, that is not what we're here to discuss."

"It's blatantly obvious that I did not come here to talk about fish, Doctor." The lady said.

The doctor wiped his moustache and constantly brushed his fingers through it. "Of course not, your great eminence. This is all about the negotiation, isn't it?"

"It is undoubtedly more than just a contract. Have I mentioned how your plans worked on our favor?"

The fat man wasn't too hesitant to relish over his recent success. "Oh yes! And you have one brilliant genius to compliment for it."

"I would be delighted to... if you had STOPPED THE LUMINOIDS!" She shouted.

This startled Eggman, though he was left confused in the end. "Wait, I'm sorry. Luminoids?"

"Some tea, Your Highness?" Cubot suddenly cut in with a teacup.

"The Luminoids are fragments of the Powers, just as the Darkoids are part of my Dark Force!" Again, the mistress shoved her offered drink off the tray, this time with brute force, causing Cubot to yelp. "How they appeared at such time is _not_ a coincidence! They're here to aid those Powers, for a _reason_."

Eggman adjusted the collar of his suit and gulped.

"Just _what_ was this plan of yours, Doctor?" She asked in such sinister way, removing the hood. She was revealed to have pale gray skin, white hair in a stuffed bun, and some wrinkles in her face. Her ruby red eyes seemed to glow like burning flames as she stared at the doctor into his eyes.

"Uh... eh... I-I thought Infinite had gotten rid of that pipsqueak and lost track of everything! Y-you see, uh... that was part of the plan!"

"Then _why_ is he coming back?"

"The boss used a potential polluting substance the moment Sonic and the Chosen One arrived to collect the gemstone. How they both survived is still unexplainable." Orbot explained, appearing once more.

Eggman smacked the meddlesome yet nosy robot with a hard fist. "QUIET YOU!" He then turned to the mistress, still nervous. "Do never listen to these dimwits, your eminence. Their chips have yet to be reinstalled, so..."

"So, you sickened her, instead of stealing her Powers for once?!" She slammed her hands on the table.

"Eh, killing is such a strong word, especially if it comes from a fine lady like you, mistress." Eggman said rather flirtatiously. "I mostly want to see how those bothersome wimps react to her slowly dying down with those Powers."

"WHAT?!" The old lady snapped.

"Just envision this: No Powers, no Sonic, and the world will fall entirely on our hands! I will be the ruler of a great empire while you get the highest position in my enterprises!"

"I can envision something else, Doctor." The Black Sorceress arose from her chair and walked towards the doctor. "I can see how an egotistical and arrogant demeanor can lead two parties astray, and eventually, to failure. In the near future, if the Powers die with the Chosen, the Elite Stones remain with _no_ purpose."

Orbot and Cubot hid behind the doctor's chair, the next drinks that they would offer falling off to the ground.

"We did agreed to collect the rest of the Elite Stones, and the Powers altogether, by keeping the Chosen One _alive_. So I ask you, Dr. Eggman, do you wish to lose your allegiance with the Dark Force at such early time?"

That made the fat doctor grumpy and upset. He knew this woman was nobody to bring him down like that, and he knew she had a weakness. One she never thought he would discover.

He took out a small, black box, and was to open its lid up when the lady began to panic and stumble back.

"No. No! NOT THOSE HORRID SOUNDS!" She shouted, but failed to stop him as he opened the lid, revealing a bright light as echoes of laughing children filled her head. She had to clutch her ears to avoid hearing it, but the sounds brought her to her knees, somehow draining her of her power. When he felt she had enough, he closed the lid and put the box away.

"Ah." She gripped her head and messed her hair, looking up at the doctor angrily. The fat man turned to walk, but stopped.

"Your words are quite underwhelming. I suggest you never underestimate your superiors, unless you want me to use this full-time."

The old lady panted.

"In any case, I will be needing one more ton of Dark Force energy, just in case that blue nuisance dares to mess with whatever remains of my empire. You can sit and rest in the meantime."

The woman gritted her sharp teeth at him as he walked away. Gripping the cyan gemstone, the lady conceived another plan for herself, and disappeared in black mist.

 _At J.J.'s apartment..._

While she slept on her back, J.J.'s Elite Stones shone intermittently but slowly, signaling something.

As Tails used a protective glove to check on her fever, he took note of this, not realizing there was a dark mist coming from the apartment's air vent.

 _Later..._

"Ha!"

Both Sonic and Infinite had taken down a massive robot, which exploded behind them. After having fought a few Badniks and Spinas, the two heroes made it inside the Chemical Plant.

"Man, sweet! We make quite a team!" Said the cheerful hedgehog.

"If you say so. The only team I ever had was J.J." Said a melancholic Infinite. "Before she got sick, that is." He walked away from the hedgehog then, but Sonic picked up the pace.

"I don't get you, Infinite. If you insisted to save her, why'd you leave her then?"

The jackal clutched a fist. "I felt stupid, okay?! I felt weak! And I threw it all out on her! Now she's sick! And what's worse, we can't get that trinket without those Powers of hers!" He sighed. "And she said that Stone was the only way out."

Sonic put his hands on his hips. "You _do_ have feelings for her, don't you?"

"It's not what you...!" Infinite wanted to let out an outburst, but he controlled his temper and took a breath. "I can't help but think of her right now." He shook his head. "I cannot imagine what would happen if she-"

Sonic rested his hand on the jackal's shoulder. "Don't sweat it, pal. She'll be fine."

"Would you get your filthy hands off me?"

Sonic took his hand off the jackal's shoulder. "Uh, whoops."

Infinite rolled his eyes at the hedgehog.

It was not long after that a sudden explosion caught their hearing.

"What the-?!"

Before they knew it, the floors beneath them collapsed, and they slid down at full speed, falling face-first into a smaller room of the base.

 _"Hoo hohoho! Well! Looks like I've got two rascals in a cage. I will have twice as much fun disassembling you both!"_ Said Eggman from the other side of the room, which was protected with a glass barrier.

"Augh, great." Sonic sighed. "Listen up, egghead, our buddy's gone sick because of you. If you want to avoid some good butt-kick, you better give us that Stone now!"

 _"Are you hearing that, Infinite?! How can you have the guts to side with this bothersome hedgehog?! Have you truly forgotten who your real family was?!"_

Infinite's pupils shrank, although he was utterly confused by the doctor's question, he still felt odd inside. "F-family? Wha-? What are you talking about?!"

From the other side, Eggman grinned evilly.

"If you join me, I will tell you everything about your past, something that pipsqueak didn't even bothered to do."

"J.J.?"

Infinite groaned, his clutched fists shook with anger and rage.

Sonic rested his hand on the jackal's shoulder. "Don't listen to him, man! He's only messin' with ya!"

But Infinite felt an indescribable fury deep in his heart, which caused him to outburst at the hedgehog with a punch to his guts. Sonic was sent flying across the room and coughed, clutching his belly.

"Ueugh..."

Infinite approached Sonic with his sword in hand, and pinned him against the wall. "Who am I?! WHO AM I?!"

The evil doctor watched with delight from the other side of the room, rubbing his fingers through his mustache.

"Hehehehe... why would I be involved if they can disassemble each other on their own?" He said and left the two to their fate.

...

Sonic had no choice but to kick the jackal to set himself free. Infinite skidded to a stop across the room, but was still up for a fight. Before he could attack, however, Sonic took a strong grip on his hands to prevent him from fighting the hedgehog.

"Infinite, snap out of it, man! He's messing with your head!"

"NO! I MUST REMEMBER WHO I WAS!" Sonic loosened his grip on Infinite as he backed away and roundhouse kicked him off his feet. Sonic stumbled on the floor but still stood his ground.

"C'mon, man! We can't lose our heads right now! Think about J.J.!"

Sonic avoided not one, not two, but many of Infinite's attacks with his sword, proving himself faster for the jackal to fight.

"I WANT TO KNOW MY FAMILY! I WANT TO KNOW THE REASON BEHIND MY LONELINESS LONG AGO! I WANT TO KNOW WHY THESE VISIONS ANGER ME!"

On one attempt, Sonic spin-dashed at the jackal, finally bringing him down, and held him against the floor. The jackal squirmed on his grip, but felt weak like to get him off himself. So his only choice wa to stand still while panting heavily.

"J.J. needs you, man. Don't let some egghead mess with you."

Soon, his current memories of J.J. filled his mind, including how a certain creature of light made him see what last became of her.

"J.J." He breathed.

When he felt the jackal calming down, Sonic slowly let him go and offered him his hand to help him up. Infinite held his head as he was helped up, feeling a strong sense of regret inside.

He sighed, holding his head. "What am I thinking?"

"Hey, it's cool, man. Let's go get that Stone before it's too late."

But a female's cold laughter caught their hearing, and everything was brought down to darkness, again.

"You guys seriously like to intimidate us with pitch black areas, don't you?"

"Don't be too confident, boy. That man pitted us against each other for a reason!"

"Oh, you're as clever as you are adorable, little jackal." A lady's voice resonated in the dark as a dim, red light revealed a hooded figure just about their size, in a very long, black dress that covered her feet. A collar of white feathers adorned her neck like a scarf.

"I have been aware of your intentions, and feel so bad to say that you won't retrieve the Stone. Aw, it's so bad your little girlfriend will soon die at the hands of the Dark Force." She stopped for a moment. "But wait... what's this?" She chuckled. "...I see that there _is_ someone else."

...

Back at J.J.'s apartment, the mist fell from the air vent and became a growing mass of slime that slowly transformed into a Darkoid.

"Aw, man. I really wish you were okay by now, J.J." Said Tails as he placed a hand on her head, his thumb touched her forehead*. Her fever was still very high.

Just as he took notes regarding the sick human's vitals, he heard a loud stomp coming at their direction. His first thought was Sonic and Infinite finally returning home.

"Huh? Sonic? I didn't think you'd come back so soon-" His speech was interrupted as he turned to the source of the noise, and gasped at the sight of the large monster.

 _Back to the base..._

The lady just laughed.

"Tails?!" Sonic exclaimed, but then Infinite got in front of him defensively.

"GET AWAY FROM THEM!"

"Ah, the irony! Sometimes I think that rusted man's plans actually gave me the upper hand. You two were blatantly oblivious to see what would soon become of her if you dared to face me!"

"And you'll be blatantly oblivious to notice us kicking your old butt!" Sonic used her own words against her.

"I shall be delighted to see you try to defy the power of... Vultress!"

As soon as she came out of the shadows, she revealed herself to be an anthropomorphic female vulture. The female pushed her hands forward, summoning a large shockwave that pushed the two back to creating cracks and holes on many walls, almost knocking them out of their consciousness.

Sonic struggled to support himself up with his hands, his body was sore from the impact, while Infinite just stood on the ground, groaning.

"H-heh heh. New competition, huh?" Sonic smiled through the pain his little body felt.

Vultress created a sword out of her dark energy, and stood in a combat stance. "Accept it, little hedgehog! You're DEAD!" She lunged at Sonic, gripping her weapon with both hands, and attempted to slice him. But the quickster avoided her attack and instead she sliced through the wall, completely shattering it without much effort.

"Why would you help that child? She's weak just like the rest of you!" Again, she moved towards Sonic and slashed her sword at him, but failed to hit him as he took a good jump out of the way.

"And you're too slow like to keep up, for an old lady." Sonic mocked.

"ARGH!" Vultress made another move at him, but no matter how many times she tried, Sonic was way too speedy for her attacks. It was so much that, because of this, she ended up nearly destroying the entire spot.

And Infinite, who had heard the word "weak" coming from her, found some strength to stand his ground. He picked his trusty sword off the ground and charged at the female vulture. Vultress ignored the hedgehog and instead turned to the jackal with a grin. Their swords soon clashed against each other.

"Who are YOU to call us WEAK?!" Infinite pushed his sword as strongly as he could, almost matching her own strength.

"Oh..." As Vultress' bloody red eyes looked into his, she could see intriguing things that he never knew.

"I guess you've never been too weak. But, there is a large fragment of your mind that needs immediate reinforcement."

As she sensed whatever was on his mind, she soon gasped as she heard the same child-like laughter coming from it.

"Ah! The Powers!" She shouted and kicked the jackal off.

Infinite skidded backwards beside Sonic, who got up at the sight of the light of the Cyan Stone in the lady's hand.

"Listen, old lady, let's put this the simplest and old-fashioned way. If you give us the gem, we promise not to mess with your little army ever again. That includes Eggman." Infinite shot a concerned and confused glare at Sonic. "If you refuse, well... you're gonna' have to spend the rest of your life knitting behind bars."

"You think I'd be foolish enough to believe in your puny tactics?!" She yelled.

Infinite, who observed the area, took note of a loose pipe hanging just above her, and a hidden grin enlightened his face. He discreetly whispered his plan to Sonic's ear while he "listened" to the lady.

"Someday, the Powers and the Dark Force will collide, but only one will prove itself superior through the absolute collection of ALL of the Elite Stones!"

"Eh, you may have to think twice before doing that." Said Sonic, who soon jumped and spin-dashed at the loose pipe, pinning the lady to the ground. This caused her to lose her grip on the Cyan Stone, which afterwards rendered her physical health back to its regular state.

Sonic proceeded to walk to her and pick the Stone off the ground, whistling a random song, which angered Vultress.

"Gee, at least I said it once. But thanks!" He tossed the Stone to the air and caught it with one hand, leaving with Infinite.

"Argh! You cursed, pathetic life forms! I'm not done yet! Not until all Elite Stones are MINE!"

Later on...

Tails had no way to get the monster off him, that was until Sonic attacked it, making it vanish. He soon collapsed to his knees, panting.

"Sonic! Are you okay?!" Tails went to his aid.

Sonic got some dust off his arms, getting up. "Yeah, don't worry, man. I got myself patched up."

"How?"

The hedgehog showed him the Stone. Tails' jaw dropped. "You found it!"

In J.J.'s chest, the Stones in her Medallion stopped shining, but the Cyan Stone in Soni's hand quickly acted up, detecting the Powers and the rest of the collected gems. It gave Sonic quick health and flew back to its corresponding place in the Power Medallion. Soon enough, a cyan light engulfed her body for a few seconds, then faded away.

"J.J.?" Infinite put the curtains aside and shook the girl by her shoulders. He got no response. "J.J., come on!" He tried several times, but she didn't respond.

"I don't understand. If the Stone has healing powers, it should be working." Said Tails.

It was right afterwards that J.J. yawned and stretched her limbs. "You guys?" She moaned. "Why do I feel a tickle in my belly?"

"J.J.!" Infinite strongly embraced his very friend. J.J.'s eyes widened as she wouldn't expect such action from the jackal. A huge blush filled her cheeks, and she hugged him back, nearly crying.

Realizing his sudden adorable demeanor, Infinite withdrew from the hug and acted serious. "Don't think I'm adorable, because I'm not!"

J.J. laughed between tears. She returned the hug to her friend. "Oh, Infinite. I'm so glad you're back!"

The jackal said nothing as he narrowed his eyes and caressed his friend's hair and back.

...

After a quick checkup, Sonic and Tails left the apartment with such relief. J.J. was assigned to have a 24-hour bed rest, but still she prepared some steak for her and Infinite to eat.

"J.J., the guy just told you to rest. Are you deaf or something?" Infinite crossed his hands.

J.J. glared at him. "Infinite, I'm fine. I can't just sit there and do nothing. Besides, I'm hungry for some steak."

The jackal's tail began to wag savagely. But he hated it, so he grasped it to make it stop. "Why would you do that to me?"

"Because..." She switched to her rabbit form in a soft "poof" and approached the jackal, holding a hand on the right side of his head and planting a soft smooch on his left cheek. She continued to cook while the jackal was left confused by the counter.

"Because what?!" He nearly yelled, making J.J. giggle. Her smile faded then as she cooked. There was only the sizzling sounds of the fried steak.

Infinite leaned against the edge of the counter and crossed his arms. "You okay?"

J.J. gave him a quick glance before turning to the meal. She took a spatula and placed the two loaves on a plate. She was afraid of what his response would be. "Yeah, I just... I have to confess something."

The jackal examined the sound of her voice and her composure. He knew she was afraid, but nodded slightly.

Her delicate hands prepared the meal for two, first adding a pinch of parsley. "I've always carried that thing since some time now, and since then I've had visions, terrible ones." Her hands laid on the table. "I hid it from you just to protect you from certain danger."

"Certain danger?" He repeated. "J.J., I'm the one supposed to protect you and those Powers of yours from that fat man."

J.J. sighed. "Yes, Infinite, but-"

The jackal rested his hand on her shoulder. "J.J., rest. You've had enough now, and I don't want to see you weak again. I need you strong, okay?"

The rabbit girl threw her arms to her sides and glared at Infinite, resting her head against his.

She breathed deeply. "Fine, Mr. Overprotective the Jackal. Just know that your steak won't be finely spiced now."

Infinite gasped. He suddenly forgot how she made his precious steak taste good.

...

Later in the night, the two had kept the ruby resting on the table. J.J. had fallen asleep earlier than usual due to her assigned bed rest, and Infinite stood awake. He always felt a sense of loneliness even though he was never alone.

He turned to the ruby on the table and wanted to touch it. But somehow as his hand got closer, the ruby's light intensified, it was so much that his eyes reflected it. And when just his fingertip touched its very edge, a rain of visions passed by his mind at a quick rate, one particularly being a desolate world, along with the sounds of Eggman's cold laughter.

"Ah! Argh..." He gasped and clutched his head. He had no idea of what he saw, but he felt like there was something familiar about those visions.

He stared at the ruby as if he was inspecting it, and held out his hand again. But he knew he would get more visions just like J.J., so he shut his eyes as his hand made contact with the gemstone. Then he touched and grasped it, and nothing else happened.

He took it close and watched as its light constantly intensified and dimmed down. He thought of his friend as he stood next to her, and rubbed her cheek up and down with the back of his index finger. Her eyes twitched, and she moaned silently.

"Don't think I'll be gone forever."

He caressed her one last time before departing from the apartment.

...

 **A/N: Ooh! How was that for a chapter? I would like to know your thoughts in the reviews! :D**


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